Day 1 - Vancouver - The Defintion of an Outlier

Quote of the Day:

"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.

Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

The slogan, 'Press on,' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race"

I arrived in Vancouver today. It is my first trip out here and it is quite spectacular. The mountains, the ocean, the lifestyle, and the weather were all major drawing points. The UBC Campus was very picturesque it reminded me of something I imagined a University would look like in a major motion picture. I cannot comment on much of what happened today as it was more logistics and event preparations.

I did have the opportunity to read a fantastic book on the flight over though. My mom had suggested I purchase a book by Malcolm Gladwell entitled Outliers: The Story of Success. Malcolm is the #1 best selling author of both The Tipping Point and Blink. 

Definition

Outlier - Something that is situated away from or classed differently from a main or related body

             - A statistical observation that is markedly different in value from the others of the sample

The novel digs deep into how individuals become successful. But how do these individuals become successful? Is it hard work or maybe natural talent? We love to hear the stories of rags to riches and how an individual overcame a plethora of adversity to ultimately become very successful. Through these depictions we often are left with the impression that it is as a result of their constant hard work and natural talent. It appears however that this may be nothing more than smoke and mirrors and another more important aspect is really what makes an individual truly successful.

It appears that their are 3 factors that can lead to becoming an expert in a particular field.

1. The year or month you were born in

2. 10,000 hours of perfect practice

3. Your socioeconomic status.

(Notice how i did not say innate ability)

A study on hockey players was conducted that showed that their was an inordinate amount of individuals who were born from January to March. Is this just coincidence.... 100% not. Since the cut off date for a hockey player is Jan 1st the athletes born closer to this date have more time to mature. Since these individuals tend to be bigger having as much as 11 more months to grow then someone born in December they are given greater opportunities.

 

To continue it has been shown repeatedly in various disciplines (computer programming, sports, marketing) that it requires 10,000 hours of perfect practice to become an expert. If we couple that with the above point we find it clear that the individuals who are given a greater opportunity to participate and practice in their selected discipline will ultimately accumulate the 10,000 hours of perfect practice before the younger, less mature individuals do.

Finally, it has been shown that socio-economic status can play an important factor into it as well. as compared with a lower socioeconomic class, Wealthier individuals tend to become more involved with their childrens lives given them a greater opportunity to participate in a discipline that they truly enjoy.

 This only skims the surface on what Malcolm Gladwell discusses in his novel. It is a fantastic book and a good read. I was quite skeptical that innate ability does not play a role in the level of success someone has. I find it hard to believe that Wayne Gretzky was not naturally amazing. However, when I continue to think about it maybe the reason he became "The Great One" was simply because he accumulated 10,000 hours of perfect practice before everyone else. 

The Moral of the story for future parents: Have your child born in January, make lots of money, and have them practice practice practice.

What do you think?