Outliers

The best book of Malcolm Gladwell so far.

Billionaires, Nobel-prize winners, rock stars, top athletes, etc.; the list admirable individuals, so call Outliers, can go on and on. Many of us including “me” of many years ago oftentimes mistakenly attribute outliers’ success to their personal choices and their actions in insulation. Individual choices and actions undoubtedly distinguish outliers from others; however, self-originated choices and actions alone never bring successful stories into existence. We have to look beyond the individual level.

Outliers is well-structured, persuasively exemplified and above all, unabashedly inspiring. Apart from talent, there are other uncontrollable aspects such as opportunities (luck), social systems, family’s influences, cultural legacies. Meanwhile, practice (self-help) as a huge controllable element of success.

It might be unthinkable to attribute a personal success to the culture where he/she inherited, friends and families whom he/ she connected with, or the time when he/she was born. Apparently, it takes a great deal of shame for a person as famous as Bill Gates to confess he was very lucky. Outliers is a book where we appreciate influences we take from the environment we inhabit and the people we associate with; the seemingly random combination of external factors shapes who we are.