Outliers: The story of success

By Malcolm Gladwell

As the name of the book suggests, it talks about people who are different from others and so they stand out and become successful. It attempts to explain why certain people succeeded where other failed, moreover, the book inspects the cases where the success is not necessary the ability of the person alone or in some cases, the person doesn't really have any real outstanding ability, what is important in a lot of cases is the circumstances and the system has somehow favoured someone or a group of people. On the other hand, thre are people with remarkable ability but has been mirginallized by the system.
While the idea of book is pretty interesting, I found the cases and description a bit repetitive and long-winded. This is the 3rd book that I read from the same author, the other two books were "Tipping point" and "Blink" which I enjoyed a lot, but I must say I was a bit disappointed about "Outliners".

Blink, The power of thinking without thinking

Type: Self-improvementAuthor: Malcolm Gladwell  My rating: Buy now
Posted by Dominic Book introduction: This book talks about how snap judgement can be tremendous useful at times and at other times, we can be so stubborn about our first impression of something which is wrong. How we can rely more on our gut feeling reliably.
My review: Another interesting book by Galdwell - author of Tipping point. I like the many concepts and experiment that he talks about in this book which tells us how we 'think' , or actually conclude or act without 'thinking' and our instincts are often right. But also when we have to make a decision in a hurry like in an emergency situation, how our intrinsic bias will affect our decision without being consciously awared that we have been affected. I no longer think about thinking the same way again.

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

Type: Business Author: Malcolm Gladwell My rating:  Buy now
Posted by Dominic Book introduction: This book attempts to explain why some ideas or diseases spread like wild fire and some other ideas do not. The book introduces a concept to systematically look at how ideas, messages, viruses spread through the key characters. - The connectors are people who are well connected, they simply love to get to know more people, they have a natural facsination in meeting everybody and genuinely find them interesting. The connectors can always find a common topic with almost everyone. - The mavens are people who have a habit in knowing the fine details of all sorts of things like pricing, differences in products and love to help others and share what they know - The salesmen are people who have the ability to convince others and engage a conversation and lead the other party to adapt the salesman's harmony and pace. They have a gifted talents to make others more agreeable The book quoted various examples of products, viruses, historical events and explain how they fit in this connectors/mavens/salesmen concept. There are other very important factors too, such as stickiness of the message.
My review: Finally got to read this book that has been recommended by a few friends and business associates. I think I fit in the description of the connectors and mavens, but need to work harder on the salesmanship. If you are in a mass-market business, this is a must read. If you are simply amazed by how certain people are gifted in one of the aspect of the social skills, this is also a very interesting read.

---

Replied by irene. My rating: My review: The examples are quite long, but it's interesting to review how the past big trends/serious illness tipped. Inspire you to think about your business strategies.