Outliers: The Story of Success | 
pickI‘ve been a Malcolm Gladwell fan for a bit. This book focuses on how many most-known exceptional people became who they are. Much of it is experience in a field, and the luck of being in the right place, knowing the right people & even being born in the right year. One example in the book, Bill Gates & Steve Jobs, both born in 1955-the perfect age at the right time for tech enterprises, with unusual opportunities available at young ages.
Two of three #Roll100 selections look good. That third one, “Outliers“ is one I'm not sure about so I've pulled it to get it off my shelf. I attempted another Gladwell book earlier this year but couldn't get into it.
Thanks @Puddlejumper for this challenge!
pickA fascinating reframe of the American mythos and the Western concept of success, genius, and “self-made” greatness.
pickMy first Gladwell book. It was a great read, finished it rather quickly in comparison to my usual. Made me think about hurdles I've faced and providing a different view on my successes. Success has always been narrowed down to hard work and intelligence. But this book looks into how hard work & intelligence aren't the only things at play. There are multiple things at work simultaneously around a person that makes it to the top. Recommend!
so-soI finally got around to this one. This book has permeated popular culture--for good reason--so I'd seen most of it already, which probably took away a lot of the impact. While I agreed with the main points, the book heavily relies on anecdotal evidence rather than systematic research. I also found the second half to lack focus and didn't get what value it was supposed to add. An interesting book, but not the right one for me.
pickGladwell examines different factors that impact success across cultures, acknowledges what some won‘t admit - sometimes a key factor to success is being born in the right place at the right time. While at times explanations were surface level; I did excitedly talk to several people about the chapter called “The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes.” The “Harlan, Kentucky” chapter seemed wholly out of place. But overall a cohesive & entertaining read.
Came across this which is so funny to me. I am an insurance adjuster, which depending on your reaction, you may know there is a lot of opportunity so conflict ..&anyway I said to my colleagues “it‘s the key to success, knowing when to be nice and when to be aggressive, who to butter up & who to give it right back to”
Gladwell agrees. I‘m a genius, where‘s my book deal.
Restarting “morning reading” this month.
I am only 1 chapter in.
I bought this annotated by the previous owner copy from the thrift shop and some of the notes are giving Bo Burnham “Microwave Popcorn” energy. So hopefully that doesn‘t throw me too much 😩
pickWhile there are some flaws with Gladwell himself, his books continue to engage and provide me with insights. This one in particular was a good read.
pickThis book changed my outlook on many things. An important read.
🎧 This was a very inspiring read!
pick2020-A slow read like how to talk to strangers but still very good.
pickI love the way Malcolm Gladwell weaves a lesson by speaking to seemingly unrelated topics to make his point. He makes me understand things anew and I save each book read as if it was the text of my favorite college class. He clarifies the myth of a self-made person by explaining how culture, opportunity, and circumstance are so often required in order for genius to see its potential.
#14Books14Weeks2021 B8W8
pickAmazing book! Gladwell has a great way of challenging our assumptions and perspectives with facts and patterns.
pickI think this is the 2nd book i have been able to finish since COVID hit. This year has been more difficult that I thought! I enjoyed it. Very interesting overall, but my favorite section was about Legacy. Feuds in Kentucky, plane crashes, and middle schoolers...
pickAn absolutely phenomenal read!! I recommend it for everyone willing to look past the false perceptions inevitably created around some of the best humans in the world.
pickDid you know 3 major software giants were born within 6 months of one another (1954-55)? Or that the majority of pro hockey players are born in winter (most in Jan.)? I‘ve been telling everyone I know about this book. It has so much to think about. The main idea is that success isn‘t an isolated thing—circumstances are always aligned to create opportunities for success. I love how Gladwell forms this theory with many different cultural examples.
They had to look BEYOND the individual. They had to understand the culture he or she was a part of, and who their friends and families were, and what town their families came from. They had to appreciate the idea that the values of the world we inhabit and the people we surround ourselves with have a profound effect on who we are.
Watching it rain as I listen to this audiobook.
pickTaking 10,000 hours of practice out of this, as many have, is so reductive. It‘s 10,000 hours plus natural talent plus date of birth plus unusually good opportunities. The superstars have all these.
We stand on the shoulders our community and the opportunities we receive. IQ and natural talent mean less than Americans have been told they do. Fascinating. I can‘t believe I waited so long to read this!
pickGladwell tackles success in this book. It‘s not enough to be lucky or work hard, and nobody is successful on their own, he argues. Instead, it‘s luck, hard work, and having opportunities that are created for you by others and the choices they make along the way.
Rereading The Dutch House and I Capture the Castle were definite highlights this month.
pickRemains to date as one of my top 5 favorites of all time.
pickFirst of all. Whoa.
This is so good. Wow. I can't shout my praises enough.
This gives such insight to culture, ancestral heritage and the role it plays in success.
Absolutely incredible.
pickThis was the last of Gladwell‘s books I hadn‘t read. I love the way he approaches a topic and this is one of his best. He discusses Bill Gates & the Beatles, explaining where their advantages came from. He even discusses his own background and his mother‘s childhood in Jamaica. Our lives are shaped by external factors, when we are born (athletes and Jewish lawyers) & our cultural history (Asians‘ math skills).
pickEasy breezy read, had many resemblances to Freakanomics. Gladwell might be called out by academics for being a fraud, but cannot deny that he is a unique storyteller.
Would recommend purely for the spin he offers on our usual way of thinking about outliers.
Something to remember for corporates in India perhaps 🤷♂️
This is me and my sister, in a nutshell lol
My #bookspin #doublespin and #triplespin
I m happy that OUTLIERS came up. Hopefully this will inspire me to read more of non fictions. 😊
#Aprilread
#asoif
#stephenking
#nonfiction
pick🎧 ya know something ... this wasn‘t that bad. He reads it. He‘s not horrific. The content is interesting but he does talk about a wide range of history. I enjoyed the chapter about students, it‘s towards the last couple hours of the book. I‘d recommend it if you‘re looking for an explanation as to why some people advance while others don‘t. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
pickGreat read, one of my firsts in his series. Read this before the tipping point and it was what made me a fan of him in the first place! Thought the environmental factor attribution points in success were definitely interesting
#BillGates #Nonfiction recommendation for #NFNov.
#Success #TBR @rsteve388 @Clwojick
Finished this book today. I really appreciated the theory and evidence for hard work. I have been working hard myself
This was on my daughter summer reading for ninth grade honors English, and she was really hesitant to read it. Now that she‘s done she‘s really at me to read it also so we can talk about it. I love that she‘s able to make recommendations to me and we can share the joy of reading in a different way now that she‘s older! (this is her when I came to see her at work, with her cash register, refusing to make eye contact)
It's not even 5 yet, but I just dropped my MIL off to go home and I need a nap. She is single handedly the most exhausting person I've ever been around and she thought it would be fun to just "pop in" on us during our first week back to teaching and second week back to school. So, we just had to drop everything and entertain her for three days.
So yeah. I'm going to read some more of this book, spray some lavender on my pillow and check out. ?
I've been so used to teaching lessons every other day when I sub that I forgot to bring a book today. This teacher is just having his class do worksheets, but thankfully he has a library of books that I'm actually interested in. 👏📚
I'm a good chunk of the way into Outliers, and it's super interesting! I love Malcolm Gladwell.
Oh dear I didn‘t realize I already had a copy of this book 😅 this is what I get for not checking my goodreads account before buying the book. It was already on my owned and to be read pile 😅 guess I‘ll have to start making a for donations pile.
My daughter‘s summer reading if she wants to have honors English in the fall.
More than two years after disappearing from most social media platforms (life, job, kids, a move), I‘m making a stab at returning back to what was. Except, nothing else in my life is as it was two years ago. I‘ve changed. A lot. My reading habits have also changed. Not just in my book taste but also in how I read. That said, a do over is always an option. Though I should say that this must be my attempt #IveLostCount. Anyways, here I go...
Outliers “They are products of history and community, of opportunity and legacy. Their success is not exceptional or mysterious. It is grounded in a web of advantages and inheritances, some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky - but all critical to making them who they are. The outlier, in the end, is not an outlier at all“
#nonfictiction2019
✅ something that‘s been on your list for more than a year
More like been on my TBR list for 8 years but who‘s counting 😳
