Book Review: Outliers

By Elizabeth Macanufo 

May 2010

Were Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln and Barak Obama self-made men destined for success, or were they simply at the right place at the right time? Author Malcolm Gladwell investigates the link between the two theories in his third book, Outliers: The Story of Success.

The narrative of America's elite thinkers and professionals follow similar themes. Rising from destitute conditions, sheer will and shrewd calculations elevated these individuals to success. However, Gladwell argues, circumstances support success.

Gladwell analyzes Bill Gates' past to illustrate his thesis. Gates' dominance of the computer industry could be credited to his intelligence, but there is more to the story. A series of fortunate situations allowed Gates to access computers and begin programming at the very beginning of these technological advances. By his senior year of high school, Gates secured his first gig as a computer programmer.

Admitting in the book that he was privy to "an incredibly lucky series of events," Gates illustrates the power of a person of interest meeting opportunity.

Clearly, Gates possessed a predisposed level of intelligence allowing him to conquer computer programming. But, Inherent ability and intelligence do not necessarily dictate success. Nor are those without high IQ levels barred from achievement. Gladwell illustrates, "once someone has reached an IQ of somewhere around 120, having additional IQ points doesn't seem to translate into any measurable real-world advantage."   

Illustrating his point, Gladwell cites a University of Michigan study prompted by Proposition 2. The university's law school compared their minority graduates with their white classmates. Although the minority students entered the program with lower undergraduate grades and lower standardized-test scores, both groups achieved equal levels of professional success.

Outliers, Gladwell argues, benefit not only from the right circumstances and meaningful level of inherent ability, but also diligent work. Psychologist K. Anders Ericsson and his colleagues at Berlin's Academy of Music observed musicians from ages of five to twenty. The number of practice hours created the biggest differential between good and great musicians. Says Gladwell, "the people at the top don't work just harder or even much harder than everyone else. They work much, much harder."

The magic number of hours to achieve true expertise, Gladwell proposes, is 10,000. He cites well-known experts in their field who benefits from the 10,000-hour rule, including Gates and The Beatles. The secret to success, according to Gladwell, is a combination of talent, opportunity and initiative.