Are You an Outlier?

[Kelly Leonard O'Keefe]

Malcolm Gladwell's upcoming new book Outliers: The Story of Success (November 18, Little Brown and Company) takes readers on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers" -- the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. Gladwell asks the question: what makes high-achievers different?

His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing.

Along the way he explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band. Watch/Hear Malcolm describe the phenomenon in Video.

For participating early adopters of social media, like the Book Blogs community here on Ning, I think in our own way each of us are Outliers (well, maybe not in the Bill Gates or Hillary Clinton mode of Outliers but still, our friends and families think we're pretty hip, right?)

I'd love hearing how you're an Outlier in your life. If you post a comment to this thread, I'll send you a copy of the book as a thank you for contributing to the conversation :-)

Or if you're just interested in receiving a review copy w/o commenting, please email me your name, blog URL, and postal address. Thanks!

[Miriam Parker]

I loved this book. One of the things it talks about is about how it takes 10,000 hours of doing something to be an expert at it. I think about this in relation to novel-writing, which I also want to do. Conventional wisdom in novel-writing circles is that it takes 10 years of practicing to become a good writer. According to the Gladwell model, that's 1,000 hours a year...just 2 hours a day (math is possibly faulty here...)!!! Gives me hope that one day I will be a good writer.

What have you spent 10,000 hours doing?

[Amy]

10,000 hours of doing something? I must be awesome at reading blogs. ;)

[Kelly Leonard O'Keefe]

Hi Amy,

Pls send me your postal address to [e-mail]

Thanks for posting to the thread!

Kelly

[Sandie Kirkland]

Outside of reading, the closest thing would probably be swimming. For years, I went to the pool each morning at 5:30 and swam at least a mile before work, and it usually took me around an hour to swim a mile. I haven't been in about a year and I miss it terribly.

Sandie

[Sandie Kirkland]

What a fascinating book. I often wonder, what makes those of us who are intrigued by new things and jumping out there ahead of the average different? In my life, many of my outlier moments have been in technology, as that is my career field. I work at a large community college, and have for 23 years. I started the college website back in the days when the Internet was new to the general public. A few years later, I started the online education component of our curriculum. I always taught the new classes, and in the technology field, there is always something new. Eleven years ago I moved to the administrative side of the house and I'm currently the CIO, where there is lots of room for my outlier tendencies. I'm currently in the throes of taking our four campuses totally wireless, and there are always new buildings to complete and new technologies to investigate and implement.

I'm also an outlier or maybe a contrarian in things like investments. I tend to buy when others are selling, as it is a great opportunity if you have the stomach to take a few risks or possible losses.

This book sounds fascinating, and I'd love to read and review it. Thanks for considering me.

Sandie

[Kelly Leonard O'Keefe]

Hi Sandie, Thanks for posting! A copy is on its way to you.

best,
Kelly

[Wayne Hurlbert]

I have usually been an outlier in everything I do in life. :-)

[Kelly Leonard O'Keefe]

Hi Wayne, Thanks for posting! A copy of OUTLIERS is on its way to you.

best,
Kelly

[Sandie Kirkland]

I'm interested in getting the book, but don't see your email to send you my information. Can you contact me at [e-mail] please?

Sandie

[Kelly Leonard O'Keefe]

Hi Sandie - thanks for participating in the thread and providing your email address. I've sent a message to you asking for your postal address :-)

[Ignacio]

I consider myself an Outlier in life because my family thinks I'm super smart when it come to computers. While I don't consider myself an "expert" on computers, I believe my family thinks I am some sort of "geek" because I am the one who fixes all the comptuers of when something is wrong.

The truth is that I'm fascinated by computers and the old saying that "you learn something new everyday" couldn't be more true when it comes to technology and I actually take it as a compliment when someone calls me a geek.

I would love to receive a review copy (if possible) and post a review on what I think about it. I'm sure it's going to be a very interesting read as the book explores a very interesting subject. The subject of success.

[Kelly Leonard O'Keefe]

Hi Ignacio, Thanks for posting and emailing your address to me. A copy of OUTLIERS is on its way to you.

best,
Kelly