In his book Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell describes the reasons that some people are more successful than others. Of course, there are many reasons that a person may be successful, and they all depend on multiple factors. A main problem with Gladwell's book is that every point he makes can be argued as being incorrect.
Gladwell argues that one's success can depend entirely on when one is born. He uses Canadian hockey players as an example by stating that many of the successful hockey players are born in the earlier months of the year. This makes them more successful, because they are older when they are playing on a team. This concept, however, is false. In the 2013 NHL draft, no players in the first ten players drafted were born in January, and only one was born in February.
Another problem with this book is that Gladwell never accounts for the concept of luck. Some people are successful because they are lucky. Of course, like Gladwell states, people who work hard are more likely to be successful. However, some people are successful because of the family they are born into or because something happens to give them an advantage, like winning the lottery.
A third problem with this book is that Gladwell describes an outlier as someone who is smart, rich, and successful. It is difficult to define these concepts, because they are all up for interpretation.
While Gladwell makes a lot of great points, they are all arguable and depend on one's personal definition of success.
There are several factors that are not considered when Gladwell discusses history's richest individuals. His premise is that it takes 10,000 hours of concentrated effort to become an expert at something, and through an obsessive work ethic, the individuals in his list have become extremely wealthy.
His ideas hold true for developing skills and turning those into financial success, but there are many other factors that can contribute to financial riches. For instances, many extremely wealthy people have started with some form of family money—they have inherited or been gifted large sums, such as Donald Trump, who had millions of his father's dollars helping him in business.
Additionally, the economy can contribute in various ways. Warren Buffet's wealth has come from skillful market manipulation, and the Rockefeller's financial success came from taking advantage of the economic downturn to amass a large empire with relatively low funding. Luck and circumstance play as much a role as effort when it comes to financial success, particularly at the level he discusses in the book.
There are multiple problems in Gladwells' list of History's richest individuals as listed in his text Outliers: The Story of Success.
First, one must understand the term "outlier". An outlier defined by Merriam Webster in the following way:
: something (as a geological feature) that is situated away from or classed differently from a main or related body.
Therefore, Gladwell is defining the richest individuals in history as those who are not typical in mainstream society.
Gladwell states that the only way one can succeed is by honing their skill by dedicating 10,000 hours to it. This, simply stated, forces one to become basically obsessed with the perfection needed to insure mastery.
This being said, Gladwell fails to recognize the aspect of luck in gaining absolute richness. Gladwell focuses completely upon the aspect of nurture over nature.
What Gladwell fails to acknowledge is the aspect of "self-made" and the simplicity of simply wealth happening without the notion of obsessiveness or dedication to honing specific skills.
Without acknowledgement of the miracle of wealth (the lottery, winning a
very large settlement, or passing down of "old money"), Gladwell dismisses
those of this category as not being rich. Basically, Gladwell only wishes to
acknowledge those who pursue accomplishment and, therefore, gain
wealth.
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