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 One of the most interesting and profound books I've read this year (A.K.A. the 898th review)
What can I add to this host of reviews that has not already been said?
Perhaps nothing, but this book hit me in a profound way based on things that are happening at my work.
Please pardon a little bit of blogging tossed in with a little bit of book reviewing - it's not my normal style.
I am a high school teacher and we are, as a school, busily studying the racial achievement gap that exists on all (if not all, it is almost, almost, almost all) standardized tests across the country. Currently, I am bucking my school system by insisting it is not a racial gap but rather a failure of the culture of the school to attune itself to the culture of our African-American and Hispanic students. A cultural gap, as it were.
To me this is no simple issue of semantics - if the gaps are cultural they can be overcome by re-tooling and learning new strategies. If the gaps in achievement truly are racial - based on inherited characteristics from our genetic code, well, what's the point of trying, really? (To be honest, I think they are using race as a simplistic code word for culture, but this is dangerous game to play, in my opinion).
Anyway, Malcolm Gladwell backs up my arguments in chapters 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 & 9 with interesting analyses that shed light on the importance of learned culture on success and behaviors. I recommended this book to a member of the leadership team that is leading these discussions and he was intrigued enough to pick up the book and start reading.
The other way that this book was meaningful was its emphasis on the role of practice in achieving success. 10,000 hours - the magic number when it takes to become a Mozart or The Beatles or Bill Gates or Michael Jordan. Note the emphasis on the individual here - you two can be a master of your chosen field with just enough practice! Sort of democratizing isn't it? This is blended together with cultural legacies in Chapter 9 to show how culture can encourage that sense of purpose in an individual.
Anyway, I have a student teacher who will be a very good teacher one day and I spoke with her about the value of practice and experience. She won't be a master teacher in her first year, but those hours in the classroom will add up and she will be one day. Well, it sounds less profound here, written down. Believe me, it was inspiring when I spoke about it.
So, in short, this is a heckuva interesting book. I devoured it. It gave me a lot to ruminate about.
Highly recommended.
 keys to success
We all know that being in the right place at the right time has a lot to do with success. Malcolm Gladwell gives us lots of examples, the first of which is about being born in the right month if you aspire to professional hockey in Canada. He also stresses the importance of ambition, hard work, and the influences that shape our lives. The most disturbing section has to do with cultural influences and the devastating airline tragedies that occurred partly because of a co-pilot who was overly deferential to the captain and to air traffic controllers. The author often reminds us that it's not necessary to be exceedingly smart to be successful; it's just necessary to be smart enough. He gives the example of a man whose IQ is in the 190s but didn't finish college because of his inability to negotiate a class schedule that would allow him to continue. In contrast, another man attempted to murder a professor and still went on to become immensely successful. Near the end, he takes a linguistic approach to explaining one of the reasons Asians excel at math. I had never really considered how the English language makes arithmetic more difficult than it needs to be. He also presents a strong case for year-round school.
 Entertaining but not Science
Very interesting and well-written. Gladwell is smart, and makes this sound like real science but I wonder about his interpretation of statistics. Also, understanding what makes pilots successful will not necessarily encourage you to fly... well, not with certain airlines.
Enjoyable and enlightening
I enjoyed this book tremendously. It is well written and very thought provoking. Meritocracy is an ingrained element of our society. Gladwell attacks that notion, however, and does so in a very rational, methodical and well-supported fashion. My summary of the book: luck + hard work + reasonable brain power + reasonable to high "social" intelligence = success. The "luck" factor is what those living under the meritocracy myth like to overlook. Who your parents are; when you were born; where you were born; where you live; etc. -- these things matter immensely. This is a must read for those in employment hiring and college admissions positions (or similar positions). Heck, the best evidence of the premise of this book is George W. Bush -- does anyone think that he would have been president if not for Daddy Bush and the family and life circumstances he was born into?!
 Biased, Dishonest, Factual Errors -- but Fascinating
The author detests the idea of individual abilities and efforts being the "key" to success, and goes to great effort to prove that other factors and environment and luck are the key. Some of the factual analysis is correct and fascinating, such as why Canadian hockey stars are heavily-weighted toward certain months of birth, or why Asians excel at language and hard work.
But the book is severely marred by errors, bias, self-indulgence, and even ... let's be honest, falsehood. And the author exudes a stench of racism.
Self-indulgence is worst in the last chapter, an interminable recounting of his family background and how the mean 'ol slaveowners were ever so mean to the poor ol' slaves. Overlong, boring, pointless, but useful if you have insomnia.
There are also factual errors, slovenliness, and obvious lack of fact-checking which color some chapters and make the reader wonder about the entire book. Some of the most striking occur in the fascinating chapter about cultural attitudes and pilot safety. Screaming errors like stating that the signals from a VOR beacon tell a pilot his altitude make a pilot's jaw drop at such idiocy. And then make him wonder whether the same errors or even dishonesty are elsewhere in the book. The same chapter, incidentally, is vague and occasionally wrong about terminology, and strikingly vague about explaining "proper" procedure. Astonishingly, the author doesn't even mention the worst airline disaster in history, caused to a great degree by "cockpit culture."
Disclosure: I've met the author in person and seen him on TV. I lost much respect after hearing several falsehoods. And when, on TV, he said that Barack Obama is a fine choice because the important thing was to have a President who is "part black" (like the author).
A nice read. And if you're having trouble sleeping, the final chapter is a godsend.
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