Outliers
Posted
January 5, 2009 
Comments(4)
Comments(4)
I highly recommend Malcolm Gladwell’s new book, Outliers. In the book Gladwell takes a closer look at what makes someone a “success”. After reading this book you will never again buy into the idea of an “overnight success”. I highly recommend it. You really can’t get a feel for Outliers from a series of quotes, but here are just a few things that jumped out at me:
- “We have seen that intellect and achievement are far from perfectly correlated.”
- “Practical intelligence includes things like knowing what to say to whom, knowing when to say it, and knowing how to say it for maximum effect.”
- “They lacked something that could have been given to them if we’d only known they needed it: a community around them that prepared them properly for the world.”
- “Historically, plane crashes have been far more likely to happen when the captain is in the flying seat.”
- “Planes are safer when the least experienced pilot is flying, because it means the second pilot isn’t going to be afraid to speak up.”
All I can think of is Statistics class, but your summary makes tthe book sound intriguing. I have a couple of bookstore returns from bad Christmas gifts, so I may check it out.
Bobby, Let not your heart be troubled. This book is far more than a casual adventure through a set of statistics. Gladwell is a phenomenal writer and takes the reader along on a great ride. I HIGHLY recommend this book, and am proud to have it cristen my new year of reading!
Totally agree with Chris on this one. Gladwell has a way of taking lots of facts and statistics and presenting them in a very readable way. I couldn’t put this book down. Can’t recommend it highly enough.
Reading it right now. I’ve got like 50 books on my reading list. It’s first for the year, followed by a history book (April 1865).