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OutliersThe Story of Success

byMalcolm Gladwell

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chief

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Outliers

• Outliers are men and women who do things out of the ordinary

• To understand why certain people become outliers we must look at factors beyond innate talent. We must also look at:– Where they were reared– When they grew up– The culture they belonged to– The characteristics passed down by their

forebearsWe Share Ideas

The Ecology of Organisms

• The tallest tree in the forest probably came from a hardy acorn, but other factors also contributed to its height. Such factors as:– No other trees blocked sunlight from getting

through to the tree– The soil around the tree was rich in nutrients– No animals chewed through its bark when it

was a young tree– No one cut it down before it matured

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The Effect of Birth Dates• An analysis of a highly successful

Canadian hockey team found:– 40% of the players were born between

January and March– 30% were born between April and June– 20% were born between July and

September– 10% were born between October and

December

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The Effect of Birth Dates• In Canada the eligibility cut off for

age-class (club) hockey is January 1– Those players born early in the year are

bigger and more mature than those born later in the year

– As a consequence, the older players perform better and are picked for advanced placement where they receive better coaching and more playing time

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The Effect of Birth Dates• In the U.S., the cutoff for almost all

non-school baseball leagues is July 31 – As a result, more major league players are

born in August than in any other month

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Summary of the Effects of Age

• If you make a decision about who is talented and who is not at an early age

and• You separate the “talented” from the

“untalented” and provide the talented ones with superior experiences

• You will give a huge advantage to those born shortly after the cutoff date

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The “Matthew Effect”• “For unto everyone that hath shall be

given, and he shall have abundance. But from him that hath not shall be taken away even which he hath.”

• The rich have a natural advantage• The best students get the best teachers

and the most attention

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Accumulative Advantage• Some people start off a little bit superior

to their peers• This initial small difference leads to more

opportunities, which makes them more superior, which leads to more opportunities, etc., etc., etc.

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Gates’ Advantage• Parents – Wealthy Lawyer/Banker’s daughter• 7th grade - Private School/Computer club• 1968 - Mother’s Club bought computer terminal

for mainframe in downtown Seattle• U. Wash – Computer Center Corp. – leased

mainframe time (founder’s son @ same school)• ISI – Free time for working on payroll app• TRW – Independent study semester, writing

code for Bonneville power station app• Dropped out of Harvard – had 7 years’

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The 10,000 Hour Rule• The closer psychologists look at the

careers of outliers, the less important is innate talent and the more important is preparation

• Ten thousand hours is the magic number for expertise in most areas

• Before they became famous, the Beatles played eight hours a day, seven days a week in a club in Hamburg

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The Effect of Timing• The most important date in the history

of the personal computer revolution isJanuary 1975 when the Altair 8800 was introduced

• If you were too old for the personal computer revolution in 1975 you were probably born before 1952

• If you were born after 1959 you were probably too young• Leaders of the personal computer revolution:

– Bill Gates – 1955 (Microsoft)– Paul Allen – 1953 (Microsoft #2)– Steve Ballmer – 1956 (Microsoft #24)– Steve Jobs – 1955 (Apple)– Eric Schmidt – 1955 (PARC, Sun (Java), Novell, Google)

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The Effect of Parentage• Wealthy parents can afford to give their

children opportunities that less wealthy parents cannot

• Poor children have an inherent disadvantage in school – a disadvantage that, in fact, widens every year

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Academics vs. Socioeconomics• Karl Alexander, Sociologist

at Johns Hopkins University • 640 First Graders, Baltimore - 1982• California Achievement Test

(math/reading)

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Year-End Test Scores

534497461

5 Yr

Hi/Low 566460418361High467425388348Middle433397375329Low

4 Yr3 Yr2 Yr1 YrSocioeconClass

32 732x

232725

28343960High41344369Middle33304655Low

Progress/Year189

184

Totals

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Over Summer Vacation(reading only)

13.3814.519.2215.38High2.343.684.18-3.11Middle2.892.74-1.70-3.67Low

4th3rd2nd1stSocioeconClass

.267.09

52.49

Total

Why?

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Solution? More School• Average School Year

– USA: 180 days– South Korea: 220– China: 230– Japan: 243

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KIPP Academy• Mid-90’s – Grades 5-8• @ Lou Gehrig Middle School, South Bronx• 7:25 am – 5 pm, Saturday 9 am – 1 pm• 90 Minutes of English/day• 90 Minutes of Math/day

(2 hr/day in 5th grade)• 95% at or above grade level in math• 90% get private HS Scholarships• 86% to college (1st generation for many)

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KIPP NYC

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In Summary1. Success is predictable2. It is not the brightest who succeed 3. Outliers take maximum advantage of the

opportunities that are made available to them

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OutliersThe Story of Success

byMalcolm Gladwell