Dear Reader,
In terms of what it really takes to achieve extraordinary levels of success, I argue that this book ‘Outliers’ is highly significant, especially, if read in conjunction with ‘Now Discover Your Strengths.’ Importantly, throughout this text, the author (Malcolm Gladwell) argues that
There is something profoundly wrong with the way we see success or men and women who do things that are out of the ordinary.
He basis his argument on the premise that many of us view success as deriving solely from an individual’s person qualities, such as how intelligent they are, the lifestyle they have, or what special talents they might have been born with. As a result, many of us believe that these types of personal qualities are solely responsible for a successful man’s or woman’s rise to the top. However, in opposition, the author tries to convince us, specifically, that
‘… People don’t rise from nothing …. The people that stand before Kings may look like they did it all by themselves. But in fact they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot (p. 19).’
As an example and to support his argument, the author informs us about studies, which reveal the limited importance of talent, in comparison, to the need for 10,000 hours of hard practice – if we want to become an world-class expert at anything.
For example, we are told that in the early 1990s, psychologist K. Anders Ericsson and two colleagues conducted a study of violinist at Berlin’s elite Academy of Music. This study involved splitting the Academy’s students into three different groups with the first containing the students who were considered to have the potential to become world-class soloist; the second, consisting of those judge merely as good, and the third group judged unlikely to ever play professionally.
Importantly, within the three groups every student started playing the violin at roughly the same age (five or six years old) and practice for, approximately, the same amount of time each week (two to three hours).
However, the students who ended up the best in their class began to practice more and more than everybody else (i.e. six hours a week by age nine, eight hours a week by age twelve, sixteen hours a week by age fourteen and so on) that, by age twenty, they had each totalled 10,000 hours of practice. In contrast, the merely good students had totalled 8,000 hours of practice, and those in the third group just over 4,000 hours.
The astonishing thing about Ericsson’s study is that they could not find any violinist that had moved to the top, in less time, due to possessing more innate musical talent. Moreover, they could not find anyone who had work harder than everyone else had, but then fail to break into the top ranks. As a result, the study, overall, suggested that
‘Once a student had enough ability to get into a top musical school, the thing that distinguishes one performer from another is how hard he or she works. That’s it (p. 39).’
In support, study after study of composers, basketball players, fiction writers, scientist, chess players, master criminals, and many others have revealed that 10,000 hours (roughly ten years) appears to be the magic number for achieving true expertise in anything. ‘… It seems that it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true mastery (p. 40).’
Ultimately, to bring this aspect of his argument to a close, the author points out that 10,000 hours is, essentially, an enormous amount of time, which is extremely difficult, if not impossible, for any individual to achieve on their own (especially if that person happens to be a child or teenager without the support of their parent(s)).
Therefore, he concludes that to have parents who encourage and support us or, if we are poor, to have access to special scholarship program, illustrates clearly how hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities enabled world-class performers to practice for 10,000 hours and then go on to achieve extra-ordinary success, whilst others cannot.
In support, my general observation of world-class performers such as Michael Jackson, Lewis Hamilton, Bill Gates and Tiger Woods (to name just a few) all revealed that they had parent(s) who had facilitated or, in some cases, forced them to spend a substantial amount of time practicing their talents, whilst others could not. Therefore, I wonder further whether
“If we scratch below the surface of every great achiever, can we always find that they had some sort of special opportunity that allowed them to practice for 10,000 hours?”
CONCLUSION
As highlighted by the 10,000 hour rule, the author convincingly argues that the success of exceptional performers may not be explained, simply, by the present of their individual personal qualities; but in fact, it is highly likely that all world-class performers have benefited directly from some hidden advantages or extraordinary opportunity that was not available to others. To, further, support this argument, throughout the book the author explored:
- Why Asian students are often better at Maths, because the work ethic and language of their culture allows them when very young to work hard and easily grasp an understanding of numbers
- Why students from poor backgrounds under perform academically, primarily, because of the accumulative affect of long summer vacations (school holidays) within the education system (western society)
- Why extremely successful jewish lawyers, bankers and successful software geniuses, such as Bill Gates, owe much of their success to being born in a certain time and place (USA) in history.
- Why possibly the smartest man in the world (Christopher Langham) is, currently, not recognised by the academic community due, partly, to his impoverish background and upbringing.
- Why Columbian and South Korean pilots were more likely to cause plane accidents due to possessing a culture that hindered them from acting adequately in western designed plane cockpits (designed on a western sense of authority and teamwork).
Ultimately, by focusing on many different types of excellent performers, across a broad range of subject areas and professions, he clearly demonstrates the strength of his main argument that extra-ordinary people
‘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 (p. 285).’
In conclusion and adding to the discussion, I think it is important to stress that the studies relating 10,000 hours suggest that, in spite of the need for hard work, talent is still a significant part of becoming a world-class expert.
As a result, I still encourage readers to, firstly, discover their true talent(s) because, crucially, it may be the only way we can practice anything with hard work consistency, but most importantly, it can enable many of us to experience a sense of real satisfaction in life and excel in our chosen field (please see Blog Posts: ‘Why You Must Discover Your Strengths Now?’ for a full explanation).
Then, for the reason mention throughout this review, I encourage readers to determine how much time they have spent or how they can spend, at least, 10 years working hard towards developing their talents, as studies such as Ericsson’s suggest that this could potentially make many of us become world-class experts at whatever we choose to do.
Lastly, even though the author argues persuasively that achieving extra-ordinary success may not be simple, I highly recommend that you read this book,
‘As it may improve your understanding of how the hidden advantages, extraordinary opportunities, and cultural legacies in your life may allow you to work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot.’
In the meantime, should you have any queries or comments, or wish to discuss the contents of this review, please feel free to contact me.
Truly yours,
Tom