Outliers Summary

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell is a book that explores the hidden forces behind successful people. Gladwell shows that as much as talent and hard work are responsible for many of the success stories that we see and hear, there is much more to success than meets the eye. A bit repetitive so you can skim some parts but overall great lessons.

Outliers are people who stand out. They are the top athletes, businessmen, billionaires, professionals, educators, scientists, and politicians. They are the definition of success. The ones that everyone looks up to.

When stories of outliers are told, there is a tendency to emphasize individual effort. Gladwell argues that there is another side to the story. Individual effort does count for a lot of things but it is just one of the reasons for success.

In other words:

Outliers don’t have a singular story. Luck, birthdays, opportunity, upbringing, and many other factors all play oversized roles too

The Matthew Effect: advantages tend to accumulate over time. Those that are given an early push get more advantages as time goes by and those that are put at a disadvantage continue to get limited resources. The Matthew Effect is basically another way of stating the law of cumulative advantage.

The story of outliers follows a similar pattern. If you are put at an advantage over your peers and friends from an early age, the advantages will lead to meaningful differences in performance that persist for extended periods.

In the 1860s and 1870s, the American economy went through perhaps the greatest transformation in its history (when rail road built and wall street emerge).

• If you were born in the late 1840s you missed it. You were too young to take advantage of that moment
• If you were born in the 1820s you were too old: your mind-set was shaped by the pre-Civil War paradigm.
• But there was a particular, narrow nine year window (1830s) that was just perfect for seeing the potential that the future held.

• John D. Rockefeller, 1839
• Andrew Carnegie, 1835
• Frederick Weyerhaeuser, 1834
• Jay Gould, 1836
• Marshall Field, 1834
• George F. Baker, 1840
• Hetty Green, 1834
• James G. Fair, 1831
• Henry H. Rogers, 1840
• J. P . Morgan, 1837
• Oliver H. Payne, 1839
• George Pullman, 1831
• Peter Arrell Brown Widener, 1834
• Philip Danforth Armour, 1832

Below is a list of people who born in the 1950s, the best year to be born as they will be in their 20s when the computer and internet start booming (1970s)

• Take up one idea,make that one idea your life --think of it,dream of it, live on that idea.Let the brain,muscles,nerves, every part of your body be full of that idea and just leave every idea alone. This is the WAY TO SUCCESS.

Is your birthday , before or after, September?

Reading helps alot when it comes to stressful and busy life. I felt deeply motivated after reading 'Outliers' and for those who haven't read it, it's worth reading. Its not complicated but will definitely give you some things to reflect upon. The ideas really suggested me that the author did alot of hard work which is praise-worthy.