Malcolm Gladwell builds off the success of his first 2 books with Outliers. This novel is about what patterns appear when major success stories are examined. In the first part of the book, he discusses different examples of how our environment and specific opportunities lead to success. Gladwell gives examples like how hockey players born in January have a tangible advantage over their younger peers because of how youth hockey is organized. He also introduces the belief that 10,000 hours of practice is necessary for a person to master a skill. He uses the success stories of Mozart, The Beatles, and Bill Gates as proof of this idea. The second half focuses more on how cultural legacy and history affect a person’s decisions and potential. The primary example he uses is how flight attendants from different cultures respond and their willingness to speak up when something is amiss.
I really enjoyed this book because it showed how many things must fall in just the right way for major successes to occur. It forced the reader to take a broader perspective on the steps leading toward success. Gladwell does a great job of telling the stories and getting the reader fully invested in the stories because the readers are familiar with the characters in real life, like Bill Gates. I would rate this a four out of five stars because overall it was a great book and a thought-provoking one. It is not my favorite book of his, but one I would highly recommend and one I would read again.