I like Malcom Gladwell’s books “Blink” and “The Tipping Point”. While you may not agree with the writer’s ideas and arguments, they certainly do make you think about the world you inhabit a little more. He’s got a new book out called “Outliers: The Story Of Success” which questions the romanticized notion that genius and geniuses spring forth fully formed from their parents regardless of social, environmental or educational advantage.
I grabbed the following article off the feeds earlier this month, and since then have heard the author interviewed on NPR, and I have to say, it’s thought provoking.
### Links
[A gift or hard graft?](http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/nov/15/malcolm-gladwell-outliers-extract)
[Gladwell.com](http://www.gladwell.com)
I caught an interview with him on a BBC podcast I subscribe to called “Start the Week”. He suggests in his new book that if someone is given 10,000 hours to perfect a craft then they will inevitably come out ahead. While I enjoyed him as a person (he’s clearly very knowledgeable and he’s a catchy writer) I definitely think he is oversimplifying things. He seems to be suggesting “Hey, spend 10,000 hours on something and be born at the right moment in history and that’s all there is to it!” Hmmm, really, Malcom?