The Way of Achieving Success

Over the days in history, the human being search to excel among others, doing a work of his likes and capabilities. But it was noticed some particular cases that made one person someone outstanding. Who are they? How they did it? Are these people more special than those who surround them? Here is Malcolm Gladwell, a journalist, writer and sociologist who introduced the word “Outliers”. But, what is an “outlier”? Gladwell defines it in his book as “something that is situated away from or classed differently from a main or related body”. He added a second description: “a statistical observation that is markedly different in value from the other of the sample”. In simpler terms, an outlier is a person who excels among others in something specific. Is someone who achieved success in whatever it does. In order to understand the truly concept of an outlier person, some different points of information given by Gladwell are going to been explained. Some are about the creation and appearance of this kind of people.

The first effect that helps a person arise in life is their time and place they were born. This is an aspect given to someone since by its existence. One emerged person had received a good education, and had grown up in a country were economy and society were in optimal status. In addition, the familiar environment were the person develops is very important. Gladwell denotes this in a social study realized in high class and low class people. The ones in high class talked constantly whit their children, teaching them how to reflect, negotiate and communicate with others. The ones who belonged to the low class didn’t have enough time to interact with theur children, apart from their lack of interest in this aspect. The results told children from this class bred themselves, because their parents, in some cases, had to work to survive.
Gladwell rises one important thing, something he called “The 10.000 Hour Rule”; some kind of rule that sets a person can’t be professional on something, unless it has been carried out at least 10.000 hours. One good example could be a pianist, who started playing at the age of four. Over the years, dedicating time and effort to the instrument, manages to obtain the required 10.000 hours of practice at the age of 20. this is what it makes a pianist a professional one.

Although it is worth noting the case of “geniuses”. Is it true that a high intellectual level can help a person excel, but said person has to know how to use this great intellectual level. Here is were enters the previous approaches: appropriate birth time and place and “The 10.000 Hour Rule” of practice. But it also outstands other things that makes one person achieve success. As it was said before, the person with great intellectual level has to know how to use it in its benefit. Let’s take Chris Langan, for example. A guy with a very high IQ level. Langan was born in a very poor home. His mother died and his father didn’t take care of him and his brothers. Langan managed to get a scholarship in a university, and as it’s characteristic in all geniuses, he was bored in class. He tried to tell this to his teacher, who didn’t understand what Langan was really telling him. If Langan had known how to express his problem, he could had succeeded in excel. If Langan had grown up in an stable home, with parents who teached him how to express himself, the teacher had understand him, and Langan could had achieved success. A high IQ level is not the only important thing, but also have a social and emotional intelligence sufficiently developed, so the person can handle itself in society.

Gladwell introduces in his book “The Three Lessons of Joe Flom”, a lawyer who raised three aspects that allowed one person achieve whatever they want. The first one is “The Importance of Being Jewish”, which tells an anecdote about Jews who migrated to America. They worked with dedication, managing to emerge in the American economy during the World War. He continued explaining that thanks to this hard workers, their children had received good education, achieving college degrees, such as lawyers, architects and doctors.

Then, there is the second lesson: “The Demographic Luck”, which has a lot to do with the things told before about the important thing of being born in the right time and place. And finally, there is the third lesson: “The Garnment Industry and Meaningful World”, where Flom says the essential search of a work that pleases a person, a work they could manage, and that gives them enough earnings to survive.
Gladwell mention something very important: cultural heritage. This is a powerful thing that affects society, because is culture the one thing that marks the nature of a group of people, their acting, speaking, dressing and the way they socialize with other people.

There’s something that Gladwell didn’t point very clearly, but rather transmits it through “The Three Lessons of Joe Flom”, and is the capacity of one person to search whatever it wants, the fact of trying achieving success through its own effort and dedication. And here is what Gladwell says: an outlier doesn’t have to bee a person with a high IQ level or a high amount of money. An outlier is the result of a social phenomenon that is represented by a lot of social factors, such as birth time and place, their capability of express themselves, and the dedication that gives their quest for success.


BY VIVIANA JIMENEZ AND VANIA LIBEROFF