Outliers Blog 5

"I will argue that there is something profoundly wrong with the way we make sense of success"(pg.18 Outliers Gladwell).
This is probably the reason why Malcom Gladwell even wrote Outliers. The way we look at success is somewhat off. When we think of success, we think of the effort that was exerted. We think of the outcomes of our efforts. What we lack to see in success is the opportunities and luck that lead us to success. We lack to observe the environment in which the patch of success started.

"People don't rise from nothing"(Pg .19 Outliers Gladwell)
Basically what Gladwell is saying that we all start with something. For example, Bill Gates had an opportunity that most Americans didn't have. He had access to a computer. His parents were wealthy enough to buy him time to use a computer. He was in a club that raised money for computer use. He went to a college that had a computer lab.Which most colleges at the time didn't have. Bill Gates pretty much saw his future. He started with a tool that most Americans didn't have. Bill Gates is very successful and is appreciated for his work, but he was still given an opportunity almost no one had. Bill Gates didnt rise from nothing.

Links-

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/nov/23/outliers-story-success-malcolm-gladwell, clicking this link will take you to the success story of Malcom Gladwell and how he came to discover the opportunites and luck of others.

http://blog.success.com/success/landing-the-big-one-the-story-behind-success-profiles/. This link takes you to the cover of  Success Magazine. It discusses different stories of success from movie actors to average people. It contains a variety of success stories.

http://hr.toolbox.com/blogs/search-for-mutual-success/business-enlightenment-success-from-how-we-see-our-environment-45331
This link will take you to an explanation of how we view success. It talks about how success is the oppurtunities you make, not the ones you find by mistake. I think this article definatly relates to Outliers. It may even be sending a more clear direct message.