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Malcolm Gladwell’s most recent book, “Outliers” focuses on re-evaluating our views on success. He suggests variables such as when someone is born, their upbringing, and who they know influences whether they will fail or succeed in life. Although some if his views on success may be controversial, he does provide an interesting evaluation on how we view success in contemporary society. Take for example, the world famous Microsoft king, Bill Gates. Most of us would agree he is a computer wiz, because he dropped out of high school and now he has a billion dollar money making software company. He did all of this without a formal education! At a very young age, Bill’s parents invested $3000 in a computer for their son to use, when most people didn’t have access to a computer. He was exposed to technology as a young boy so he was given this advantage over everyone else. The outside world sees Bill Gates as a success but his success is based upon a series of advantages and luck.

One of the first advantages he discusses is what month someone is born. In the NHL, a large number of players happen to be born in the earlier months of the year such as January and February. These children have a time advantage over children born later in the year like in November or December, because the cut off time for minor league drafting is Jan 1st in Canada. Children born earlier in the year have more time to practice so they will perform better when it comes time to demonstrate their skills for the hockey draft.

His case study is based on the assumption that every child is equally determined and hardworking, but not every child born in the earlier months of the year will be as hardworking and dedicated to get a spot on a major league hockey team. Amongst the group of children born in January and February, you will have some people who might be lazy and less motivated than others to achieve goals in life.

His second advantage explores how our childhood and upbringing will influence our success later on in our lives. For instance, conditions like whether you are of upper, middle, or lower class will have an impact on our achievements in the future. A list of the world’s most famous and wealthiest individuals such as Cleopatra, Caesar, and King Tutankhamun are just some of the names he pulls out to support his argument. During ancient times it was much more important to have valuable connections with delegates and government officials in order to achieve success, but in our contemporary society this degree of emphasis may not apply.

Malcolm’s most recent book is very interesting and imaginative. His writing style is always pleasant to read. Although I did not always agree with his theories, I’d still recommend people to explore his ideas.