The third podcast discusses the myth of “Rags to Riches” by explaining its origin. Ben Franklin, a founding father who was born in poverty, was in the printing business. At the time, paper was made from rags and paper was used for printing. This is how he went from rags to riches. The American Dream, from the perspective of those who have grown prosperous, is made from hard work. But, do all hard workers reach the American Dream? No. Luck is involved. Malcolm Gladwell demonstrates this idea of accumulative advantage, or luck, in his book Outliers. The “self-made man” is disproved as many beneficial events are highlighted and viewers see all that assist the man in his ascendance. In the podcast, a young woman who works for Domino’s Pizza is…
Gladwell, M (2008). Outliers: The Story of Success. New York, New York: Little, Brown, & Gladwell…
Gladwell knew that IQ was not the sole determinant of success. So he developed other concepts based on family circumstances that included the time period of birth and child rearing, as well as, one’s acquired knowledge through education. Robert Sternberg described practical intelligence as a procedural method of knowledge that helps one know how, when, and…
What other factor(s) does Gladwell not account for that contribute to success? Gladwell claims that opportunities allow individuals to be successful. However, he does not account the fact that the opportunities are meaningless if they choose not to take advantage of them. Simply stated, success doesn’t solely come from opportunities; it results from willpower and action. Gladwell uses Chris Langan, a genius, as an example of one blessed with great knowledge since birth (76). Gladwell fails to mention how Langan's determination to further his knowledge and ease his curiosity are key factors that helped him advance. In essence, outliers are successful because of the freewill they are given whether or not to work towards their…
The book Outliers written by Maclolm Gladwell is a book about success. Throughout the book he gives numerous examples of how people have achieved and in some instances, not achieved success. Popular belief would suggest that people who are considered outliers have gotten there through hard work and innate talent. Gladwell however, suggest that something is contributing to people being able to seek the levels of success that would make them an outlier. Gladwell believes that hidden advantages, extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies are the main factors of predicting success. Gladwell makes strong arguments to back up his claims chapter after chapter in the book. While I was reading Outliers one…
With the section titled “Opportunity,” Gladwell breaks the path to success into three different sub-groups each with a catchy subtitle. For the purpose of this abstract, I will call them birth date, the 10,000 hour rule, and high IQ.…
In the book called Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, Malcolm has a chapter called The Trouble with Geniuses, Part I where Gladwell spends this chapter showing that a high IQ is not a voucher for a free ride on the success train. He goes to show that once you reach a certain IQ, you are just as likely as to be successful as someone with a much higher IQ score. My thoughts are this is why people exercise all parts of their brains. Gladwell is an excellent writer, no doubt. I thoroughly enjoyed this book from beginning to end and would unquestionably recommend it to virtually anyone who has an interest in the basic success.…
Becoming successful is what most people aspire to be. Most people fantasize the dream house, car, and having the dream job. Even though success is viewed so highly, not everyone can be successful. Malcolm Gladwell explains that idea throughout his book Outliers. Gladwell’s chapters contain endless amounts of evidence that support his claims exceptionally well. But, Michiko Kakutani, a critic for New York Times, exposes Gladwell’s evidence as unreliable and unconvincing, and upon further research, Gladwell’s faults grew deeper. Even though Gladwell provides an extensive amount of evidence, that evidence is one-sided and relies on suggestion.…
Gladwell argues that success is not the result of innate talent, but of practice and of being in the right place at the right time. Critically evaluate this argument.…
Malcolm Gladwell is a well-known journalist and non-fiction writer. In our assigned reading material “Outliers,” Gladwell explores different social and psychological phenomena and their implications for both businesses and individuals. Gladwell proclaims that success is shaped by external entities. The author argues that certain individuals are granted precise opportunities and advantages that not everybody is given by fate. However, even though Gladwell’s theory of attaining success holds some validity, he completely avoids and excludes the value of hard-work and determination. The core of success is always within the individual, and can be achieved by perseverance through difficult times and setbacks, as opposed to solely capitalizing on…
An Outlier is someone who stands out in a group due to their mastery of a certain skill and because of that they are successful. According to Gladwell not anyone can become successful; it takes the right circumstances and opportunities. Human’s capability seems limitless, and if we put in the time and hard work we can achieve our goals. We as a society love to think that a person may become successful and that we all have the same opportunities and chance of succeeding if we just work hard enough. According to Malcom Gladwell, the author of the book Outlier’s these common beliefs are incorrect and are not the means of a person becoming successful. The main theme throughout Gladwell’s Outlier’s is that successful people aren’t born they’re a product of their own upbringing. Gladwell states that “Success is not a random act. It arises out of a predictable and powerful set of circumstances and opportunities.” (155). This single quote explains all of the outliers at once. In every case that Gladwell tells us about, those who flourished were provided with certain circumstances that allowed them to become an outlier or master of their respective craft. Gladwell argues that in order to become successful you have to have the right circumstances around you such as your family, birthplace, or even when you were born. That is what makes the outliers different then all others; they were provided with some sort of luck or circumstance that gave them the upper hand and opportunity to master their skills. “The outliers in a particular field reached their lofty status through a combination of ability, opportunity, and utterly arbitrary advantage.” (37)…
What determines how effective someone is in receiving their "picture-perfect" world? Let’s say one man worked hard, harder than anyone else in his community. He thought outside the box and showed determination, but another man was more successful than him. The second man worked hard and thought resource fully just as the first. How was he more successful? He had something the other didn’t. Working hard and thinking creatively to create a desirable world may seem to move in success' direction, but with deeper thought and analyzing it seems to have more to it than that. Success goes only as far as one's capabilities and experiences. In other words, one’s opportunities, background, and character determines their success.…
Rose challenges the view that intelligence can be measured by the amount of schooling a person has completed. He suggests that blue-collar and service jobs require more intelligence than meets the eye.…
What does it mean to be well educated or to be “smart”? Standardized tests are one-dimensional but the beauty of people is that we are all unique and creative in our mind-set. Smith (2002), a Rank Research Fellow and Tutor at YMCA George Williams College Gardner, defines intelligence through Howard Gardner’s seven multiple theories: linguistic, logical, musical, kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. He claims that “people have a unique blend of intelligences” and that our biggest challenge “is how best to take advantage of the uniqueness conferred on us as a species exhibiting several intelligences” (p. 1). It is a rare gift to obtain all seven intelligences, thus we must…
Emotional intelligence has a potential utility in predicting a range of criterion across different populations, but its predictive validity depends on the context, criterion of interest, and specific theory used. Traditional intelligence measures have been unable to account for a significant portion of variance in career success and work performance. IQ was originally thought to account for twenty-five percent of how well people perform in their careers, while it was later discovered that IQ actually accounted for between four and ten percent. A more recent study found that IQ is a better predictor of work and academic performance than EI, but when it comes to becoming an extraordinary performer, IQ may be a less powerful predictor than EI. The failure of IQ to account for the variance between performance and success is especially evident among managers and senior leaders. IQ alone is unable to predict this as well as competencies that integrate emotional, social and cognitive abilities.…