Human Capital Briefs

David and Goliath: Review of Malcolm Gladwell's New Book

December 10, 2013

Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers, explored some counter-intuitive data about why some people are successful. The book basically told us that it is not talent, but hard work, that pays off. That book placed the “10,000-hour rule” back into mainstream conversations, namely the idea that you have to practice something for 10,000 hours before you can become an expert at it.

That book was perhaps his best work. In Blink, he told us that the snap judgments that we make in the first few moments turn out to be true for the most part. That book, in my opinion, outlined what was merely a sketchy theory. However, Gladwell more fully outlines this idea in his new book, David and Goliath, which is also based on a not-so-insightful idea. The whole book is basically one theory packaged with trivia and anecdotes that repeats the same concept over 300 pages.

Let me test your beliefs. Having parents who are wealthy is an advantage, correct? Being dyslexic is a disadvantage, right? Getting to an Ivy League college is an advantage, is it not? Surely, losing a parent early in life is a disadvantage. If you agreed with those four statements, then you are wrong on all counts. What you thought of as a disadvantage is actually something that can work in your favor, much like that saying, “what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger.”

People have often battled extraordinary challenges to achieve their dreams. Helen Keller is a role model not only to people who are visually challenged. She inspires each one of us. Malcolm Gladwell’s thesis is that we have a flawed sense of what is an advantage or a disadvantage. However, when reading his book, I noticed that he primarily focused on this idea when, instead, he should have told us why some people can turn their disadvantage into an advantage. That would have better served the reader, making his book a more helpful resource.

However, in this book, Gladwell raised a question about hiring that I found to be useful. Every corporation has agonized over this dilemma: What should our hiring strategy be? Should we hire only graduates from the most elite schools or should we hire students who finished at the top of their class, regardless of what school they went to?

The answer according to Gladwell:

“The best students from mediocre schools were almost always a better bet than students from the very best schools.”

There is no point being a small fish in a big pond. Aim to be a big fish, even if the pond is small – it helps keep you motivated enough to learn.

There is no fun being a student at the bottom of the barrel in an elite institution. Thinking that “everyone else in the class is much smarter than me” can actually be a huge barrier to learning. Learning is a social process. Being with people whose abilities you can match facilitates learning. So when colleges lower the admission criteria to make it easier for students from disadvantaged groups to join, they think they are helping the student. They really are not, says Gladwell. Students from disadvantaged groups often drop out of these elite institutions when they fail to cope in an academically demanding environment.

The examples and arguments get more obscure as the book progresses. At the end of each chapter, I found myself wondering whether I should read the next chapter at all. Let truth be told – after the first two chapters, I found myself getting bored. The lessons drawn are not new. We all know that the small start-up in a garage can often be more nimble while responding to the market than a giant corporation that has more resources, but stumbles on its own shoelaces. Or that a tiny country like Vietnam could hold up against the military muscle of the U.S. For example, you have heard people say, “The recession is too good an opportunity to waste.”

Malcolm Gladwell does well when he writes for The New Yorker. I must say that I like the short articles that he writes. However, if you take one sketchy idea and try to write an entire book out of it – as Gladwell does in David and Goliath – the result is less than impactful.

“Being an underdog can be an advantage at times” – if that is something you have always known, then reading the book will be a waste of time. If you have known it and have some doubts, then read a chapter or two of the book. If you do not believe that being an underdog is an advantage, then this is just the book you deserve to read.

Did you read the book? Love to know your opinion about it. Share your opinion in the comments below.

 

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