Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

On Monday, June 6th, the Booked for the Day Book Group met to discuss, Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.  Here are a few things we discussed during the meeting:

• We all agreed that Gladwell is a great storyteller. He keeps your interest because he presents his theories in a very logical and clear order. He uses simple language and seems to avoid technical terms. He explains his theories in an understandable way.
• We talked about the high achieving athletes and one of our members thought Gladwell cherry-picked his facts in order to support his premise. We talked at length as to the advantages an older child may have in sports and in school.
• We talked about Gladwell’s reference to Farming and Chinese rice farming and whether it was a valid theory. That was the analogy that confused most of us. Most of us felt that all types of farming is labor intensive.
• We talked about the fact that the point that Gladwell was trying to get across was sometimes blurred. One member thought it was about the magic number of 10,000 hours. We did feel that success comes with 10,000 hours along with opportunity, timing and ability. We also agreed it was sometimes who you knew that helped you get ahead.
• In Gladwell’s own word, “It is not the brightest who succeed,” Gladwell writes. “Nor is success simply the sum of the decisions and efforts we make on our own behalf. It is, rather, a gift. Outliers are those who have been given opportunities — and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them.”
• The whole group thought that not only would they recommend this book but also the author. These are just a few things mentioned during the discussion. Please feel free to add any of your thoughts in the comment section.