Reading Journal on the "Outliers"

I’ve read up to the 10,000 Hour Rule in Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers,” and so far I find the book quite interesting. From the three stories I’ve read, the Roseto Mystery, The Matthew Effect, and the 10,000 Hour Rule, I could deduce a common theme Gladwell tried to demonstrate. “Success isn’t achieved; it is made.” In the “Outliers,” Gladwell acknowledged that extremely successful figures were all exceptionally gifted, but he also pointed out that it took them more than just talent for them to do so; they had to be in the perfect environment.


As I read along, I find myself persuaded by many of Gladwell’s explanations. Although many success folk legends narrate about determined, capable individuals who ardently worked to accomplish their goals, I tend to agree with Gladwell’s stance that passion and capacity alone doesn’t result in the upbringing of a great person. As he made it clear in the Roseto Mystery, people had to see beyond the individual if they wished to accurately identify the reason behind the unusually sound cardiac health of the town, or the “success of Roseto”; they had to take in consideration the environment, understand the cultural settings, and maybe even think about the geographical location residents were living in. Only then would the people be able to realize the incredible and extraordinary significance of such factors in life, or in outstanding achievements.


Gladwell then expands on his point in The Matthew Effect and the 10,000 Hour Rule by providing specific examples in real life. Through his discussion of the stories of the hockey players and renowned prodigies, Gladwell tries to demonstrate the enormous contributions opportunities and luck had made. At the first glance, Gladwell’s claims may seem outrageous; the excelling of many revered figures depended on luck! Who would believe that? Or furthermore, who would want to believe that? Sadly, anybody who has finished reading through the first two chapters of “Outliers” would be compelled to believe; junior hockey players born in January, February, and March who had maximum 10~11 more months of practice than their peers were usually the ones who became national superstars; programmers and musicians who had the “proper opportunities” to accumulate about 10,000 hours of practice were the ones who became historical legends. If one reads all the detailed analysis and practical data the author presented in the book, he or she must struggle greatly to dissent.


Obviously, I was, as always, the one of the majority, who couldn’t resist being interested in Gladwell’s ideas. I had always been a firm believer of the unlimited potentials of human willpower, and I considered the biographies I’d read about heroes, leaders, and all sorts of great people to be the evidences of my belief. However, it seems like the passion, talents, and adventures in the biographies weren’t all that was to their stories; timely chances and abundant fortunes were also important elements, in spite of the publics’ incessant efforts to disregard them (Nobody would like the explanation that you have to be lucky to become a true “Outlier”). As more interesting the contents of this book gets, I hope that Gladwell will further assist me to develop a holistic, authentic perspective about “success” in its future pages.




An Interview of Malcolm Gladwell on His Book "Outliers"