Outliers Book Summary

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People who achieve extraordinary success are outliers. While they have some level of innate talent, their success is mostly due to societal forces that are beyond their control. Personal opportunities and cultural legacies can give individuals a leg up, and accumulated advantages compound over time. To be successful, individuals must devote 10,000 hours to practice, and must also learn procedural knowledge that will give them the necessary practical skills to navigate life. These factors are outside of an individual’s control, and it is only by recognizing and adjusting for these external factors can a greater level of success be achieved by more people.

About the Author

Malcolm Timothy Gladwell is a Canadian journalist, author, and public speaker. He worked as a staff writer for the New York since 1996. He is the author of 5 New York Times Best Seller books. He hosts a podcast called Revisionist History and is the founder of podcast company Pushkin Industries. He previously worked as a reporter at the Washington Post. He currently lives in New York.