Malcolm Gladwell’s Enduring Appeal — Consider Outliers and The Tipping Point

I just checked, for the fun of it.  And Outliers:  The Story of Success,  is the second highest non-fiction book on the over-all list of bests sellers on Amazon.com.  The Tipping Point, after nearly nine years, is still in the top 50.  And his second book, Blink, is still in the top 100.  This is one well-read (or at least well-purchased) author.  

Outliers has generated a lot of conversation.  On his own blog, Gladwell links to a column by David Boooks.  In fact, Outliers very much takes the idea of a meritocracy which Brooks wrote about in his Bobos in Paradise, and then says that meritocracy of itself is not sufficient to explain success.  

The Wall Street Journal provided a significant ctritique of the book, and even The Onion (in its AV Club) has a terrific article by Donna Howard.  

You probably know the essence by now.  Athletes born in the first few months of the year have a great advantage.  It takes 10,000 hours to get really, really good at anything. Culture really does shape behavior, which is why Korean Air had more plane crashes and Asian culture created behaviors that provide advantages in math.  To Gladwell, the story of success is work ethic + other factors, and it is the pursuit of these other factors that intrigues him.  

Don’t misunderstand, work ethic still counts for much.  In fact, here is my favorite quote from Outliers:  ”The people at the very top don’t work just harder or even much harder than everyone else.  They work much, much harder.”  (p. 39).  

It is true that Gladwell builds on research and findings from others.  He is a great “popularizer,” letting us in on the insights of more original thinkers.  

But what explains his enduring appeal?  Here are my two thoughts:

1.  Malcolm Gladwell is a very curious man.  Even a casual look at the titles of his archived New Yorker artices (available on his web site) reveals a great breadth of curiosity.  I remember reading that his agreemment with the New Yorker allows him to write about anything that interests him.  His curiosity has created a gold mine of wisdom and insight.

2.  Malcolm Gladwell is the best story-teller in print.  For a non-fiction writer, I know no one who rivals Gladwell as a story-teller. His books are books that I simply can not put down, and Outliers is one of the few non-fiction books that I have read more than once.  I realize that I am describing a matter of “taste” — but a whole lot of people share my enthusiasm.  Gladwell is a very popular story-teller.

So — if you haven’t read Outliers yet, it is worth a read.  (And, yes, my synopsis, with handout and audio, is available at our 15minutebusinessbooks site).   

Guy Kawasaki — Fast and Furious, as always

I am enjoying reading the new Guy Kawasaki book, Reality Check:  The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition.  

I read his blog regulary, and his earlier book (which I presented in 2005), The Art of the Start, is one of the few books that I periodically go back to to jump start a new project that I tackle.  He is a practical, and valuable writer.  But when you read him, put on your seat belt…

This new book is Kawasaki at his best.  Hundreds of pages, fast and furioius, cajoling us to get to work and beat the competition.  The pace is borderline frenetic, from the opening words:  ”Imagine the American Dream on steroids and Red Bull and you have some idea of what life is like in Silicon Valley.  Sure, Frank Sinatra called New York “the city that never sleeps,” but that’s only because Frank never visited the Valley…” 

In his book, he speaks to these business realities:  the reality of starting, raising money, planning and executing, innovating, marketing, selling and evangelizing, communicating, beguiling (what a great word), competing, hiring and firing, working, and doing good.  I’ve got a hunch that we will all learn much from this book.  

If you are in the area, I hope you will join us for the Frist Friday Book Synospis in February.  You will be glad you did.  

(Karl Krayer will present the synopsis of A Leader’s Legacy by James Kouzes and Barry Posner, two fine repeat authors for our event also).