Outliers

by Malcolm Gladwell

In this stunning new book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers"--the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different?

His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way he explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band.Brilliant and entertaining, Outliers is a landmark work that will simultaneously delight and illuminate.

Our thoughts on Outliers

We adore stories about geniuses and outcasts who succeed thanks to their exceptional talent and perseverance, but this isn't the entire tale. Malcolm Gladwell argues in Outliers that these tales of allegedly self-made men and women deceive us into believing that success is a matter of personal achievement. In actuality, though, every successful person has external factors at play.

 Your success is influenced by uncontrolled circumstances such as your birth date, upbringing, and society just as much as by your particular qualities.

Our favourite quote from Outliers

No one who can rise before dawn three hundred sixty days a year fails to make his family rich.

17 recommendations for Outliers

17 recommendation for Outliers

Book Summary

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No one who can rise before dawn three hundred sixty days a year fails to make his family rich.

— Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers