Outliers: The Story of Success

With his trademark silky prose, Malcolm Gladwell constructs his theory about why some people are extremely successful. According to Gladwell in Outliers: The Story of Success, the reasons people are singularly successful are NOT the reasons we typically ascribe to our paradigm of people who have achieved extraordinary things in life. Like his previous efforts Blink and Tipping Point, Outliers is entertaining, informative and provides much food for thought.

Bottom line, according to Gladwell, people who are successful didn't necessarily have that all-encompassing, watershed lucky break and aren't genius-like Einsteins. What they do typically have are some propitious conditions, a certain level of intelligence (Forrest Gump notwithstanding) and an obsession for their craft, which together create a platform for achievement. The question is, what does that mean for us?