I first heard about Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers from the parent of a former student, and friend. The way she described it was, “It’s about how really successful people aren’t just lucky, they practice a lot.”
Nearly two years later, I’ve read the book twice now. I would read a chapter, then go back and read it again to be sure I understood exactly what we being explained. It’s not hard to read, but the connections Gladwell makes are remarkable. Outliers is about more than the number of hours of practice that experts have. It is about the cultural legacies that influenced successful people. It is about the circumstances and era you were born into and how that affected your chances. It is about the social structures that sort and select who can thrive. It is about finding the common threads among seemingly uncommon people, making them common once you understand it all. Mostly, it is about opportunities that we can’t necessarily control, but that we can capitalize upon to become successful.
I give Outliers 5 of 5 Sutterstars as one of the most inspirational, revealing, and influential books on my thinking in recent years.