“Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good.” ― Malcolm Gladwell

I just finished Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.  Yippie, I finished a second book!

I will keep my review short.  I didn’t like it.  It was not a waste of time, but I don’t recommend it.  I think nothing is a waste, no book is.  It always makes us think, even if we end up wishing we had read something else.

I wanted to like it. Afterall most people like it, if you go by the reviews on Amazon.  I liked the idea of it.  I wanted to be enlightened about success and successful people.  I was not.  I was left disappointed by it.

I have heard so many great things about Malcom Gladwell’s books over the years that I expected a lot.  Perhaps I expected too much.  I thought I would have this big revelation when reading one of his books.  With this one I expected to gain some invaluable insight on the key to success. I did not!

The one part I found interesting was regarding plane crashes.  According to Gladwell most crashes are due to communications issues and lack of cultural awareness.  Being an immigrant and a non-native English speaker that resonated with me; but there are a lot other facts that goes into a person speaking up or not in certain situations.

“Achievement is talent plus preparation” ― Malcolm Gladwell

To me some of his ideas were just common sense.  Others were just anecdotes.  There was no big reveal, no big secret.  It reinforced some old cliches, that I believe in.  I will summarize the books in cliches:

• Timing is everything. Timing, such as the month and year someone is born in matters.  He had some anecdotes about hockey players to illustrate that. 
• Grab every opportunity. Not everyone is given the same opportunities in life.  The successful people are the ones that take full advantage of the opportunities they encounter.
• Practice makes it perfect. The more you practice something, the better you will be at it. Duh! He believes that the sweet number is 10,000 hours or 10 years.
• Hard work matters. Again, duh!   
• Where you are from matters, and it shows up in our behavior and interaction with others. Something like, “you can remove a girl from Brazil, but you cannot remove Brazil from the girl”.

“Who we are cannot be separated from where we’re from.” ― Malcolm Gladwell

Perhaps because I am an immigrant from Brazil, that came to the US looking for better opportunities, I know all about not wasting opportunities when they show up.  All I have is due to hard work, so I fully believe in it.  My culture influences me a lot.  Not matter how many years I have been living in the US I still see the influences of my upbringing in Brazil in my daily interactions.  If I would only practice more I would be fluent in French, and many other stuff. 

After reading this book I was hoping to have learned something new.  Something that I could use in my life. I did not.

I will read Blink at some point as I already have the book on my shelf.  Perhaps Blink will be more illuminating.  

“Hard work is only a prison sentence when you lack motivation” ― Malcolm Gladwell