Outliers Full Book Introduction

Outliers

Outliers Full Book Introduction

In every time period, there exist some "outliers" who possess exceptional abilities and achieve extraordinary feats. It is commonly believed that their success is attributed to personal factors, that they are either gifted or simply work much harder than the average person. However, this book uncovers the real secret to their success. They do not rely purely on their talent or hard work to achieve success; rather, their success is influenced by innate strengths, acquired opportunities, and cultural backgrounds.

Author : Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell is a Canadian author of Jamaican and English descent. In 2005, he was included in the TIME 100 Most Influential People list. In addition to this, Gladwell has been hailed as “a 21st-century Peter Drucker” by Fast Company. The New York Times described his influence on social thought as “the Gladwell Effect.” He is known for his books The Tipping Point, Blink, Talking To Strangers, and David and Goliath. Each of these books made a splash in the world of non-fiction literature. You can use our APP to find the bookeys for each of these titles.

Overview | Chapter 1

Hi, welcome to Bookey. Today, we will unlock the book Outliers: The Story of Success.

In every era, we can find "outliers" who possess exceptional skills and achieve extraordinary feats. They become a symbol of that era, and their extraordinary performances are recorded in history books. It is commonly believed that their success is attributable to personal factors, that they are either gifted or work significantly harder than the average person. For example, we believe that due to Albert Einstein's superior IQ, he was able to become one of the world's greatest physicists. Similarly, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart practiced for 10,000 hours to compose the classic work Piano Concerto No. 9.

On the surface, it seems that having a high IQ and undertaking strenuous efforts will lead to success, but this book tells us that they did not rely purely on their talent or hard work to achieve success; their success was influenced by innate strengths, acquired opportunities, and cultural backgrounds. In other words, social and cultural factors gave them an edge over ordinary people. Furthermore, these strengths may be amplified under the effect of a virtuous circle, thus allowing them to outrank ordinary people in competition. So, in addition to their internal factors—superb talent and hard work—we also need to focus on the external factors that contributed to their success: hidden advantages, opportunities, and cultural influences. The author tells us that without these external factors, even someone who has a higher IQ than Einstein is still likely to fall into mediocrity.

By thinking out of the box, this book leads us towards more profound opportunities for success. Also, it gives us another way to interpret factors for success.

In this bookey, we'll discuss the book in three parts:

Part One: Innate strengths

Part Two: Acquired opportunities

Part Three: Cultural legacies