Written by I must admit upfront that I am fanatical about Malcolm Gladwell’s work. His previous best sellers, Tipping Point and Blink, opened my mind and introduced me to concepts about why ideas spread when they hit the tipping point and the intuitive reactions that occur as fast as a blink of an eye. The principles he writes about, go hand in hand with many of the fundamentals of Tim’s Sales Superstar system and provide a great underlying foundation to the importance of body language, energy level and transference of feeling; as well as, rapport and assumption.
Outliers is his third book and is subtitled “The Story of Success.” It is not a self-help book. It features excellent writing, interesting content and a brilliant weaving of a theory. Its goal is to broaden the perspective we take when studying the causes of success. Malcolm goes beyond the individual and considers all the surrounding factors such as timing, culture and family. He explores the impact of how certain structures in society create advantages and disadvantages based on birthdates. He demonstrates that innate talent is almost insignificant relative to preparation and that being great at something is the result of doing it for 10,000 hours. He also concludes that IQ means much less to success than EQ (emotional intelligence), as personality and character play a much more significant role in our successes.
In his opinion, success is the result of accumulating and capitalizing on small advantages along the way. We all are the unique result of our heritage, family, experiences and timing, and these factors impact our circumstances. Although the book focuses a lot on what goes on outside the individual’s own control, Malcolm clearly states: “If you work hard enough and assert yourself, and use your mind and imagination, you can shape the world to your desire”.
To learn more about this book, please visit http://www.gladwell.com/outliers/
Review by: Marc Wagner