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An Essay On Outliers By Malcolm Gladwell

596 Words3 Pages

Is success truly the product of hard work and talent, or is it instead the compilation of hidden advantages? The book Outliers, by Malcom Gladwell, questions society’s definition of success. According to society, people become successful from a combination of hard work, talent, and determination. However, Gladwell challenges this notion, stating that success arises from societal advantages and opportunities. For example, Gladwell discusses the age cut-off date for athletes. Children that are born closer to the age cut off are older than the other kids on their sports teams. This age cut off allows these older kids to be bigger than the younger kids, getting them more attention from their coaches, and eventually allowing them to have a more successful sports career. Therefore, through examples such as this, Gladwell argues that arbitrary factors have a monumental impact on one’s success. …show more content…

Gladwell’s emphasis on external factors made me much more thankful for the opportunities that I am given. Going to a challenging, private school, I am at an advantage compared to the majority of the world’s population. However, reading this book also gave me insight into the complexity of success. Growing up, society has always taught me that if I work hard, then I will be successful. Although this is a nice principle in theory, Gladwell argues that this is an illusion. Those who achieve success do in fact work hard; however, there are also countless other factors that play a role in one’s success. Therefore, reading this book opened by eyes to the complexity of success. It is not simply one thing that can lead a person to success. Instead, it is a culmination of many factors that can allow a person to have a successful

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