Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers

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In the general view today, a majority of people have come to think that the building blocks of success are within the personality and character of the individual. Contrary to this belief, Malcolm Gladwell asserts in his bestselling non-fiction book Outliers that success is shaped by external forces in which certain individuals are granted precise opportunities and advantages that not everybody is given by fate. Although his formula carries strong evidence in terms of these various forces (i.e. date of birth, family background, and blatant lucky opportunities) helping pave the road for achieving success, Gladwell overtly dodges the value of hard-work and determination. Gladwell’s theory of attaining success holds some validity, yet he deliberately…show more content…
A common view in society today is that those born with an incredibly high IQ are always the remarkably successful ones. Gladwell’s premise, however, is that those born with a high IQ and a supportive middle class or wealthy family are the ones to become successful in their careers, whereas those with innate intelligence that grew up with low financial stability would essentially amount to nothing. He goes on describing average or high income families raising their children with social savvy, saying, “But social savvy is knowledge. It’s a set of skills that have to be learned. It has to come from somewhere, and the place where we seem to get these kinds of attitudes and skills is from our families” (102). Although this is logically sound, the concept is debunked when the “rags to riches” story manifests itself in reality. My own friend’s father grew up in Mexico City in impoverished conditions, spending his time shining shoes to make ends meet. The courage to not succumb to the difficult socio-economic situations and pursue a life of success is a perfect account that proves how personality and character can see the opportunity where there is none. At age 16, his ambitions brought him to California where he worked passionately to establish his own chain of successful Mexican restaurants. Now a successful businessperson with over six taquerias and two fine dining establishments, Ivan embodies the value of creating your own success through the innate power that exists within everyone, refusing to submit under difficult
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