What we’re reading and sharing with others. If you want to also learn what it takes to be an entrepreneur and success in business, click here. Outliners: The Story of Success, by Malcolm Gladwell, is the book that ScanMyPhotos.com is buying as gifts for our relatives and friends to inspire and dream big.
Amazon.com reader reviews (Preston Barrett):
In this wide-ranging third installment of Malcolm Gladwell’s exploration of how people and social phenomena work, the New Yorker journalist takes a close look at what constitutes high levels of success. That is, what makes people at the top of their respective fields get there? As we’ve come to expect from Gladwell’s previous books, the answer to the question is a bit complicated. He says that upbringing, culture and even random luck have something to with success, but there is another important quality that anyone can control. Two chapters are dedicated to the “revelation” that IQ is only a baseline quality and success has little to nothing to do with having a high IQ or a low IQ. Rather, success is substantially a product of cultivating a high degree of what Robert Sternberg calls “practical intelligence” or what most refer to as “emotional intelligence.” Gladwell uses the example of Nobel laureates coming from unknown schools as often as ivy league schools. At this level of mastery IQ is no longer a factor. Success has little to do with where you were educated and everything to do with your level of practical/emotional intelligence and willingness to put in the 10,000 hours of practice required to reach mastery of your field. All in all, it’s an interesting read that isn’t too heady and goes by pretty quickly, as the interesting anecdotes are what you would expect from Gladwell.
(Susan Barenes) review:
I loved this book. I couldn’t put it down and found myself reading it well into the night. The author gives fascinating details about what it really takes to be a success. It isn’t doing “the secret” and wishing for success, its about being born in the right time and place and under the right circumstance along with
being a hard worker. I loved the anecdotes Gladwell uses and found some of the stories heart catching. Gladwell is an excellent writer and I have become a new fan.
