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'Outliers' Will Make You Think

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By AL HUTCHISON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 14, 2008

"Outliers: The Story of Success," by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown, $27.99)

There are ordinary people, and there are extraordinary people (the "outliers" of this book's title), and, of course, there are fewer of the latter than there are of the former, which is why they are, by definition, extraordinary. Given the success of his first two books ("The Tipping Point" and "Blink"), Malcolm Gladwell surely ranks among the extraordinary, and in his new book, he seeks to explain what separates these high achievers from the rest of us.

Experts may quibble over his findings, but for the average reader, the principal virtue of Gladwell's book is that it is downright entertaining and informative. To the layman, the arguments he makes appear to be thoroughly plausible, if somewhat surprising. In some respects, it reads like a supremely sophisticated television quiz show, although far more substantive in nature than your typical TV entertainment.

Importantly, Gladwell is downright provocative. For example, he uses statistics to argue that the long summer vacations common to the American public school system may actually impede the intellectual growth of some pupils. He cites research conducted by a university sociologist, Karl Alexander, that suggests "that the way in which education is discussed in the United States is backwards."

While we debate class size, changes to the curriculum, the importance of computers in the classroom and overall funding for education, the author says the real issue may instead be that "the only problem with school, for the kids who aren't achieving, is that there isn't enough of it."

Among other topics, Gladwell examines the role of national culture in the performance of airline pilots and their first officers (thankfully, the Korean government responded positively to research that indicated its cockpit crews needed to be trained to overcome their cultural inhibitions) and how their date of birth affects the likelihood that young Canadian hockey players will be prepared for later success on the ice.

Perhaps more interesting to most readers will be Gladwell's belief that, beyond the hockey rink, where and when individuals were born and raised helps to explain how they became outstanding members of society.

For example, Bill Gates just happened to be given access to a computer (and therefore developed his computer skills) when such access was not available to others.

The author also describes a generation of Jewish lawyers in Manhattan who, when shut out of the so-called white shoe firms because of their ethnicity, carved out a profitable niche by doing battle in courtrooms (the established lawyers viewed such encounters as beneath their dignity) rather than in boardrooms. Had the walls of prejudice fallen earlier, he suggests, that group might not have found that path to professional success.

There are many other examples, including how the fine points of rice growing have affected math scores among youngsters from Southeast Asia. Each example also is ultimately provocative.

Gladwell makes us think. Is there any finer compliment for an author?

Al Hutchison of Citrus County is a freelance writer.

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