Chapter Summary Of 'The Introduction To The Book Outliers'

As Gladwell as previously stated in the introduction, he intends to demonstrate and provide evidence to support his view that while parentage and patronage do effect success, personal explanation of success does not work because there are “invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot” (Gladwell, 19). Continuing this principle that more things affect our success, I have come to believe that personal qualities would not be the sole reason one becomes an outlier. Psychologist Rodger Barnsley, Paula Barnsley, and A. H. Thompson took additional interest in hockey when Mrs. Barnsley discovered that most of the players were born within the months of January, February, and March (Gladwell, 22). After looking more in depth in this discovery, they realized that cut off dates, allowed players born in the beginning of the year to have a big head start compared to players who were born towards the end (Gladwell, 30). This proves that having more experience and opportunities could lead on to become an outlier, not just their personal

This selection convention is typical throughout the world and is how the best of the best eventually make their way into professional sports such as hockey, soccer, and the Olympics. The idea that a person’s individual merit is the sole reason behind his or her success is challenged. An interesting connection is realized in the birth month of star hockey players; it is discovered that more hockey players have birth months in January, February, and March than in any other month of the year. The reason is found in the January 1st cutoff date for acceptance into age classed hockey leagues. The advantage of being 9-11 months older than other players yields advantages that build upon themselves as players’ skills progress. Similar correlations were found in other types of sports and in academics. Hard work, consistency, and motivation were undoubtedly involved in the successes of those analyzed, however, attention is drawn to a very important notion; in order to find out what makes a person successful, you also need to know where they come from.

This seemingly small advantage in most cases tends to give the older kids an advantage over the younger players because they get more playing time, get placed on better teams, receive better coaching, and in turn become more skilled hockey players. Obviously those who go on to succeed must have innate talent, but that is not the primary factor deciding whether they succeed or fail at the sport. The primary factor in how good they become at hockey is the better opportunities they received because of their age. When applying Gladwell’s Outlier theory “The outliers in a particular field reached their lofty status through a combination of ability, opportunity, and utterly arbitrary advantage” (37) the birth date of the hockey players serves a crucial role and is just an arbitrary advantage. The coaches should not place the same expectations on the younger players or the younger players should be put in a younger league more suitable for them so they too can be given a chance to become great like those born in the earlier months. Since this doesn’t happen though those born earlier are much more likely to become great, which provides a solid backing of Gladwell’s Outlier theory.

Malcolm Gladwell insists throughout his book, Outliers: The Story of Success, that the recipe for achievement is not simply based on personal talents or innate abilities alone. Gladwell offers the uncommon idea that outliers largely depend upon “extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies” (Gladwell19). According to Gladwell, successful men and women are beneficiaries of relationships, occasions, places, and cultures. The author draws on a different case study in each chapter to support a particular argument concerning success. Despite his indifference and suppression in regards to counterarguments, Gladwell’s claims are effective for many reasons, including through the accounts of experts, tone and style of writing, and the

Success has been pondered over for centuries. How does one gain success? Is it worked for or is it only designated for a special few? Looking past the multitude of self help books that have been written, many like Malcolm Gladwell have begun to consider factors beyond just “working for it” as a contributor to success. One of these factors are cultural legacies. Though it is true that cultural legacies can be extremely powerful and that we should acknowledge them when considering someone’s success, it should be evident that the extent of power culture has is less than what Gladwell proposes. The place someone originated from has extremely influential effects on how that person thinks and acts, and in turn how they gain their success. The culture they grew up with becomes deeply rooted in their minds and results in different thought processes that shape the mindset they have while developing into an individual. However, Gladwell overestimates how powerful

Chapter 6 of Matthew Gladwell’s book Outliers, there are illustrations of many family feuds. While the feuds were horrific, they were indicative of pattern which existed within the Appalachian Mountains and surrounding areas. The region was seemingly plagued by a “culture of honor” (p. 167). Because of the ancestral heritage of the “Scotch Irish”, these mountaineers were willing to fight at the slightest challenge to their reputation (p. 167). This behavior results from the need to survive, and is strengthened by the clannish ways of the people. This inevitable violent way of life is correlated to the number of murders in the South, and the implication is these murders are personal, in the same way family feuds were in previous years. Moreover

Having six siblings as a child, and being the youngest, not much attention was payed to him. His family was not very wealthy, and having five other siblings did not help. His father was in World War II,so he grew up most of the time with basically one other boy in the house, his older brother. Growing up, he was generally left to himself, so he was out of the house often, more and more as he grew up, with his friends. He did not play any organized sports, because their really was not enough time for it with so many children, although his brother was involved in Little League Baseball.

Outliers as a total book describes how success can be achieved and how successful people make it. This passage uses speech that in turn describes how people are like trees and uses seeds to describe the way they are planted and made. The way people live their lives in turn gives a better future. The passage also talks how sunlight can help people grow and make a new life for everyone. Gladwell uses speech like this throughout his novel to show the contrast between people and plants and how life can be simple. We can bring to a new beginning and create our own future by uses the terms and object he uses in this book. To see how to live your life to the fullest we have to start by planting ourselves in good environments and use the advantages we have to the fullest.

In Chapter 4 of Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, talks about the Chris Langan who is “a man with a one-in-a-million mind, and he had yet to have any impact on the world. He wasn’t holding forth at academic conferences. He wasn’t leading a graduate seminar,” (114).

Gladwell begins the chapter by narrating the crash of Korean Air flight 80. The plane was in good condition and so was the weather; but tragedy ends up slamming into the side of a mountain. Gladwell explains that plane crashes are rare, and in Chapter 7 of Outliers, he wants the reader to know how and why these pilots have been failing to land planes. Consequently, Gladwell begins to explain how Korean Air turned itself around, and he discusses how important it is to address cultural differences and legacies.

Throughout the process of how Canadian hockey sport selects their top of the top hockey players for the Memorial Cup, Gladwell proves that these top players are successful not only because of their hard work but also because of the advantage of the earlier birth month which give them more opportunity in the competence compared to others who was born in later month of the year. Gladwell argues that the inequitable “cutoff date matter” as in “other […] areas” (33), for example in education. He urges that our society need to change the way we think of success in which “we miss opportunities to lift others” (32). He also suggests that education system should change to let children “compete” each others whose don’t

Typically used for college sports, redshirting is now being applied to the American education system to kindergartners. In the book “Outliers: The Story of Success” by Malcolm Gladwell, redshirting (being held back a year to have some sort of advantage) happens when Gladwell goes into the sport of Canada: hockey. Gladwell continued on about redshirting by comparing all the players on the team and how all/most of their birthdays were in January, February, and March. He went on to explain that players with “cutoff” birthdays were going to be “ahead of the curve” because the will have the advantage if they are redshirted. This is not fair to the younger and maybe more talented kids for team selection.

There are a number of green apples and one red apple in the middle of them. Therefor, the red apple would be considered an outlier because it is the only one of its type among many of another type. Gladwell explains that

The novel Outliers, aims to investigate the very thing we want for our family, our students, and ourselves. For most of our lives we have believed that with hard work, anyone can achieve success. That had to be the reason that poor immigrants like Andrew Carnegie and college dropouts like Bill Gates achieved unimaginable wealth. Most of us were taught that working harder than anyone else would lead to ultimate success.

The audience is people who want to be successful. This is evident because despite his definition of outlier as “something that is situated away from… a related body”, Gladwell focuses on those that stand out due to success rather than failure (3). His choice of outlier examples are successful people such as The Beatles and Bill Gates in “The 10,000 Hour Rule”. He wishes to reach an audience of those against preconceived notions of success and in favor of equal opportunities in society. This is demonstrated when he repeatedly argues against a set of ideals that is represented by a vague “we”. He later states that “by ‘we’ I mean society” to clarify his argument (33). By arguing against society, Gladwell calls the audience to take action. He