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Outliers: The Story of Success |  | Author: Malcolm Gladwell
Publisher: Penguin
Category: Book
List Price: £9.99
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Rating:  126 reviews
Sales Rank: 440
Media: Paperback
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 0.8
ISBN: 0141036257
EAN: 9780141036250
ASIN: 0141036257
Publication Date: June 24, 2009
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Product Description
Why are people successful? For centuries, humankind has grappled with this question, searching for the secret to accomplishing great things. This book takes us on a journey to show us what makes an overachiever. It reveals that we pay more attention to what successful people are like, and little attention to where successful people are from.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 126
 Malcolm Gladwell September 3, 2010
Dr Alan Hearsum
A very deep book with much meaning that could be of use in the past
 Should have been called 'selective evidence' August 23, 2010
ChrisPaul
Whilst a lot of the ideas in this book are not Gladwell's alone, he takes responsibility for presenting them as if they were fact. Some parts are fascinating - such as the investigation of pilot errors which lead to crashes - but much of it falls woefully short of sound argument. The main points in the book are either obvious or highly questionable: intelligence alone is no trigger for success; luck is big factor in all great achievements; 10,000 hours of practice is required to achieve excellence at anything.
Did Bill Gates really become so successful purely because he was: a) in the right place at the right time, and b) put in 10,000 hours of programming in an age when computers were hard to come by? By drawing these conclusions he overlooks the unprovable possibility that Gates may have become successful in another area had he not been born at the right time to start Microsoft. And he does not once comment on Gates' business acumen.
Were the Beatles successful because of their 10,000 hours of practice in German nightclubs and the like before their 'breakthrough' US number one? Even if you ignore Gladwell's convenient use of their US breakthrough to mark his 10,000 hour cut-off (coming 18 months after their UK success), were they really successful because of the amount of practice they put in? Was it merely musical competence that raised them above their peers? What about inspiration, creative ideas, charisma, chemistry or pure unteachable songwriting genius? And what about the likes of Nick Drake, or Kurt Cobain, or Buddy Holly? They could not have possibly put in the 10,000 hours 'required' practice as prescribed by Gladwell. There must be hundreds or thousands more in the world of music, film, literature, or even business who do not conform to the 10,000 hour rule. Yet they are conveniently overlooked.
I enjoyed The Tipping Point and Blink, but this time around I felt as though Gladwell had bitten off more than he could chew.
Gladwell is a genius August 9, 2010
Nickmit
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Malcolm Gladwell is uniquely gifted in being able to first identify common assumptions and beliefs of social importance that are in fact questionable, then to make inspired connections that build a case for a contrarian perspective, and finally to present the evidence in a totally compelling, non-patronising and inspirational way. I have now bought 14 copies of Outliers for family and friends. Anyone with half a brain and an enquiring mind must read it. What a xmas present it makes! And, by the way, his latest book - 'What the dog saw' is just as inspirational - a fantastic expose of error and misunderstanding on matters of huge significance. We should treasure visonaries and communicators like Malcolm Gladwell.
A really enjoyable read July 4, 2010
V. Cox (London, UK)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I loved this book - the combination of summarised research and interviews with the eponymous outliers made it an accessible read. I'll remember the discussions that it triggered with friends and family fondly.
The overall feel of the book is positive; Outliers puts the great successes that we all aspire to in context and shows that being the best you can be in your place and time is an achievement in itself.
Just open your mind July 4, 2010
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
A fascinating read that results in making the resolution to not make assumptions and be more thoughtful about why things are the way they are. Very accessibly written, I amazed myself by zooming through it in a couple of days - never expected that!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 126
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