What’s Inspiring WANA: “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers”, should be required reading by anyone remotely interested in how extraordinary things happen. It provides a point of departure from mainstream narratives on success, and in doing so, provides a recipe for empowerment at a time when the people of this region indisputably need something to feel inspired about.

The book liberates extraordinary achievement to something to be shared by the smart, not only the smartest. Something that most of us can take part in. Intelligence matters, but only up to a point. That point is an IQ of around 140; what one needs to do well at university and be able to complete a Masters. Above this, more intelligence doesn’t impact likelihood of extraordinary success. Other factors begin to matter, like grit, opportunity and commitment. Factors that we all have more control over.

Practice matters in particular. The tipping point seems to kick in at around 10 years or 10,000 hours. It is highly likely that the Beatles global success would not have occurred without their 270 nights playing in bars in Hamburg over 18 months between 1960 and 1962.

I’ve recently clocked up about 10,000 hours of parenting (3 kids x 10 hours/day x 365/day per year), and I’m coming fairly close to 10,000 hours in the work area I specialize in. Perhaps this is why I feel that things are slowly falling into place in my mind, and that some of my clearest ideas have taken shape only quite recently. This just relates to work though ... I still feel completely lost as a parent.

Outliers celebrates the notion that we can craft our own achievements. It suggests that the power to have impact lies with a much broader range of stakeholders that we might ordinarily think. Gladwell makes his case using hard evidence and statistics, rather than tales of triumph over adversity. In doing so he opens a floodgate of empowerment; a narrative that every parent, community member and development stakeholder can buy into. Has there ever been a moment in history when such a message was not more needed?

Oh, and I will never fly airlines with low power-distance indices.