farmdoc's blog post number 448

Malcolm Gladwell. I wrote of him last April. Do you think he’s right or left-handed? The latter, of course, because he has an unusual – right brain – way of looking at the world and how it works (or doesn’t work); especially human behaviour. His mind, and thus his writing, is original, quirky, iconoclastic and interesting. He’s had a rapid rise to the fame he deserves. In this article in last 11 May’s New Yorker, Gladwell writes of David and Goliath contests, astutely using basketball to highlight his argument. He quotes research that in contests when Davids fought Goliaths on equal terms, the Davids won only 28.5% of the contests. But when the Davids acknowledged their weaknesses and competed with unconventional strategies, they won 63.6% of the contests. Gladwell’s conclusion – that the essence of such strategies is supplanting ability with effort – is applicable in all contests of human endeavour, including military, political and environmental. It’s a long-held axiom that perseverance will defeat genius. Gladwell extends it with a new ingredient – using tactics the opponent doesn’t expect. His 11 May article is long, but well worth reading. Because I’m very much a left-brain person, I’m grateful to him for being my right-brain surrogate.

farmdoc's blog post number 347

Two months after darling Meg, I’ve just finished Malcolm Gladwell’s third book, Outliers: the Story of Success. Like Meg, I’ve also read, and loved, Gladwell’s previous two books – The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, and Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. Unlike Meg, I don’t much go for his voice or his hair; but I’m cool with that. I’ve found Gladwell’s three books similar in approach and style – formulaic even – but captivating nonetheless. As he says, Outliers is a book about the meaning of work. His list of the three qualities work must have to be satisfying – autonomy, complexity, and a connection between effort and reward – resonates with me. As does his thesis that whilst a threshold of ability and intelligence is needed for success, beyond that what’s critical is being from the right background and in the right place at the right time, and the willingness to work hard, and long (he argues, and gives compelling examples, that 10,000 hours are needed to master any complex endeavour). So it’s not always the brightest people who succeed. Success, Gladwell says, is not exceptional or mysterious, but rather is a product of history and community, of opportunity and legacy. Clearly Gladwell’s an outlier. Good on him. I unreservedly recommend Outliers, and I can hardly wait to read what he writes next.