Book Review: Outliers

4/5

I picked this book up accidentally in Ted's house and I did not put it down until I finished it. In the past, I have not been a non-fiction person, it's definitely not something I seek out when looking for reading material but Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell has single-handedly changed my mind. His writing is so compelling and the subject matter is so fascinating. He is also so incredibly logical that I wonder why I have not looked into this topic before. His book describes circumstances and reasons for why certain people find success. He delves into when people are born (months of the year but also the specific year), traits due to nationality, opportunities afforded to different individuals etc.

His first example, to give you a taste, has to do with professional hockey players. He points out that a disproportionate amount of professional hockey players are born in the first 3 or 4 months of the year. He then explains that professional hockey players are given opportunities when they are really young and they are fast tracked into different programs. The choosing of these programs happens at a stage when a few months can really make a difference in male development. Since the cut off date for the programs is Dec 31st, children born in January are being compared to children born in November and they are in a completely different league because they have had 10 more months of development. Fascinating, isn't it? Give it a read.

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