Outliers: The Story of Success by Gladwell

Gladwells Secret to Success

In his 2008 best-selling book Outliers: The story of success, Malcolm Gladwell argues that the key part of reaching an expert or master level at something is preparation, namely 10,000 of practice. Gladwell (2008) refers to practice as conducting a task with the purpose of improvement. The author clarified that the role of talent might be exaggerated, especially in comparison to preparation. As evidenced by countless interviews with exceptionally successful individuals and multiple studies, 10,000 seems to be the exact amount of hours needed for a person to reach true mastery at something. This is roughly how much the Beatles performed together before their early success, Bill Gates programmed prior to starting his own venture, or Bill Joy coded preceding his superstardom at Sun Microsystems. Each of these stories is a piece of evidence for Gladwell (2008), who claims that geniuses work hard to become truly great. Despite that, the author acknowledges that perseverance and determination to work hard might not be enough. The actual equation of true success is reflected in a combination of practice and opportunity. People should regard any success story as one of immense luck and privilege and not purely talent or hard work.

Personal attitude

In regard to my feelings about Gladwells argument, I would say I am extremely frustrated. The premise of working hard and practicing a lot to achieve great results has seemed inspiring to me. That is until I discovered that there are numerous implications associated with the 10,000 rule. In order to become a true master, one often has to start at a very young age, have a strong support system, and have enough time to dedicate to practicing. Unfortunately, as I look back on my own childhood, I recognize that I might have innate skills or a predisposition to certain things, yet I am never to become a master at them. Gladwell (2008) claims that if you prepare a lot and spend thousands of hours on intentional training, anything is possible. In my opinion, this notion can be both inspiring and frustrating. In my case, it brings me sorrow and despair as I remember the lack of support from my parents in regard to my inclination to start dancing professionally. Most importantly, I recognize that I would have most likely never become a professional because I had to start working rather young to help my family.