OUTLIERS: THE STORY OF SUCCESS
A REVIEW
By Andrew Brown

Over the last decade

the name Malcolm
Gladwell has become
synonymous with the
genre of Pop-Sociology
Outliers fits snugly in

this genre.

WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A
GOOD WORK OF POP-SOCIOLOGY?
Scientifically sound

Comprehensible to the target audience

Entertaining to the target audience

Relevant to the target audience

Well written


“Outlier” is a term used to

describe things, people, or
phenomenon that lie
outside of normal
experience.
This book is concerned

with people who are
outliers in terms of
success.

WHEN YOUR BORN MATTERS
Of the seventy-five richest people of human history,

fourteen were born between 1831 and 1840.
To become a Computer Mogul, a person needed to

be born between 1952 and 1958.

10,000 HOUR RULE
To become an expert in

something it takes
10,000 hours of
practice
10,000 hours = 3

hours/day x 10 years
There are no prodigies


OTHER TOPICS
Chance
influences
Cultural
Influences
Class
Vacation
Summer

STYLE
 Series of anecdotes
Several Digressions per story that explain

the underlying factors
 Often within the digestions in a story there is
other related stories
 Towards the end it becomes a manifesto for
the fostering of success

POSITIVE ASPECTS
 Uses sound data from reputable sources
 Covers a subject important to almost
everyone, especially budding intellectuals
about to start their careers.
 Combines research from many sources and
uses them to create a fresh portrait of
something so basic and well studied

POSITIVE ASPECTS
It written plainly and clearly

It is quick moving and highly entertaining

Provides suggestions to increase the fostering of

success

NEGATIVE ASPECTS
Lacks level of proof necessary for a scientific work

Some of the research is disputable

Due to anecdote-based style Gladwell jumps from

one topic to another

Read It!

GETTING LUCKY *BELONGS BETWEEN 6 AND 7, PROBABLY WON’T
BE SHOWN DUE TO TIME RESTRAINTS
Bill Gates had access

to a computing terminal
as an eighth-grader in
1968.
He lived a couple miles

from the University of
Washington as a
teenager.