&sq=&lang=&file=File:Outliers_(book_cover).png) Outliers book cover | |
| Author | Malcolm Gladwell |
|---|---|
| Audio read by | Malcolm Gladwell |
| Cover artist | Allison J. Warner |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Psychology |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Publisher | Little, Brown and Company |
Publication date | November 18, 2008 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type |
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| Pages | 304 (A5) |
| ISBN | 978-0316017923 |
| 302 22 | |
| LC Class | BF637.S8 G533 2008 |
Outliers: The Story of Success is a non-fiction book written by Malcolm Gladwell and published by Little, Brown and Company on November 18, 2008. In Outliers, Gladwell examines the factors that contribute to high levels of success. To support his thesis, he examines why the majority of Canadian ice hockey players are born in the first few months of the calendar year, how Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates achieved his extreme wealth, how the Beatles became one of the most successful musical acts in human history, how two people with exceptional intelligence—Christopher Langan and J. Robert Oppenheimer—end up with such vastly different fortunes, how Joseph Flom built Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom into one of the most successful law firms in the world, and how cultural differences play a large part in perceived intelligence and rational decision-making.
Throughout the book, Gladwell repeatedly mentions the "10,000-Hour Rule", claiming that the key to achieving world-class expertise in any skill, is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing the correct way, for a total of around 10,000 hours, though the authors of the original study have disputed Gladwell's usage.[1]
The book debuted at number one on the bestseller lists of The New York Times and The Globe and Mail, holding the position on the former for eleven consecutive weeks. Generally well received by critics, Outliers was considered more personal than Gladwell's other works, and some reviews commented on how much Outliers felt like an autobiography. Reviews praised the connection that Gladwell draws between his own background and the rest of the publication to conclude the book. Reviewers also appreciated the questions posed by Outliers, finding it important to determine how much individual potential is ignored by society. However, the lessons learned were considered anticlimactic and dispiriting. The writing style, though deemed easy to understand, was criticized for oversimplifying complex social phenomena.
- ^ Ericsson, K. Anders (2012-10-01). "Training history, deliberate practise and elite sports performance: an analysis in response to Tucker and Collins review—what makes champions?". Br J Sports Med. 47 (9): bjsports–2012–091767. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2012-091767. ISSN 0306-3674. PMID 23111333. S2CID 2890412.