Outliers: The Story of Success

In 100 Words or Less: Particularly in the West, we love a great "self-made" story; the determined entrepreneur with a brilliant idea who worked hard to make it big. In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell argues that intelligence and hard work are only part of the story; the very successful benefit from unique opportunity and heritage as well. (For example, Bill Gates is unquestionably brilliant and a hard worker, but he is also a household name because he had nearly unlimited access to a mainframe during his formative years at an elite private school, in an era in which computers were rare.) For those of us that study success and desire to be successful, these are important ideas. As always, Gladwell makes reading about them entertaining as well.