Outliers: The Story of Success

Favourite Quote : We prematurely write off people as failures. We are too much in awe of those who succeed and far too dismissive of those who fail. And, most of all, we become much too passive. We overlook just how large a role we all play — and by “we” I mean society — in determining who makes it and who doesn’t. (Chapter 1) Favourite Chapter : The author shares about a flight crash in Guam. The 1st officer mentions to the Captain that the area they are approaching rains a lot which he was trying to tell the Captain to have a back up plan should the weather persist as the Captain intended on using a visual landing. The Flight engineer mentions that the weather radar has helped a lot which he was trying to say is that visual landing is almost impossible due to the terrible weather forecast. The Captain failed to understand the hints mentioned and the plane crashed. The author mentions that there is an issue of power distance where the crew failed to give a proper assessment of the situation to the Captain. High Power Distance communication only works when the listener is able to pay close attention to what is being discussed. In the scenario of the plane crash, it was high stress and fatigue that causes the Captain not to pay close attention to the conversation. The author also mentions that historically, crashes are more likely to happen when the Captain is in the flying seat. This is most likely due to other pilots not speaking up or give command to the Captain if he did something wrong. (Chapter 7) Personal thoughts on the book : The book is very well written and i enjoyed every chapter in the book. However, i am unable to understand the objective of the book as it is not a motivational book where it not only shares secrets to success but it also shares about how luck, events and dates of birth played a major role in them becoming a success. I personally felt that this book teaches me to keep working hard and never give up and be happy where i am and accept that if it is meant to be, it is meant to be.

Interesting new thoughts, assertive and clear, succinct and reader friendly writing. However I feel the author indirectly devalues his arguments by omiting to discuss the details of possible counterarguments. Rather than actively engaging me in a thought process, i felt i was given the answers and examples to what I already know or already suspect is true. Neverthless, there are some great ideas. The highlight in the book comes halfway. The revelations of cultural differences affecting language use in the cockpit and learning of math in later chapters were the most intriguing for me.

Outliers is the perfect myth buster. This has taught me a lot as a person who is keen on creating Success. Malcolm explains that success is predictable and further explains how opportunistic advantages like birth year, ehnicity, ancestry & culture can heavily contribute to one's success. What I loved most about the book is the quality & depth of his approach to Analysing situations. Sometimes, when trying to solve problems - Think differently, like an 'Outlier'. Would totally recommend. Thanks Malcolm!