Preview

What Makes Success------ Nature or Nurture? Essay Example

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
976 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What Makes Success------ Nature or Nurture? Essay Example
What Makes Success------ Nature or Nurture?

--a book review on Outliers

George Eliot has said: “it is never too late to be what one might have been.” Indeed, what makes success? People have been questioning for more than a century. Is it by nature or by nurture? In Malcolm Gladwell’s newest book Outliers which narrates the story of success, we can see the answer.

Is it hard to being a successful person surrounded with glory and applause? Is it hard to being a successful person filled with uncountable amount of money in account that can’t spend a lifetime? Or even is it hard to being a successful person who could be remembered by all over the world. If you want to, Outliers will tell you how to do it.

Outliers including two parts which intent to tell us reasons of successful persons prefer opportunity and legacy to high IQ.Gladwell brings us into a world full of successful stories which include Canadian ice hockey players, Bill Joy, Bill Gates, Christopher Langan, J. Robert Oppenheimer, the Beatles and a series of fortune persons . In Gladwell’s unique viewpoint, he makes us acknowledged the secret of success in an unimaginable way filled with opportunities, hard working, family and culture. And if we are in these conditions, even we don’t have brilliant minds, successes are in our sides. Just as Canadian ice hockey players, to born in adequate time, a team of them regarded as the perfect team which makes all of them “are at the top of the pyramid”. That is to say, if one wants to be a successful hockey player, one had better born “in the early part of the year has over the child born at the end of the year persists.” And just as Bill Gates and Bill Joy, to have extraordinary opportunities, that is to say, if one wants to be rich and runs the promising computer company, one has to learn “benefit from the hidden opportunities.”As well as The Beatles, to perform more than 10000 hours, that is to say, if one wants to be an

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers focuses on the concept of success. Through various case studies and examples he challenges the notion that an individual's Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is a direct predictor of an individual's success. Gladwell's carefully chosen case studies and the manner in which he presents them is how he is able to connect to his audience. In the span of these two chapter the author references several areas of popular culture, sprinkles in statics and historical tidbits, all the while emphasizing his stance that "success" is independent of…

    • 89 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gladwell (2009) points out in chapter 3 and 4 of the Outliers that we possess a misunderstanding of the meaning of success. American education links the results of testing in children to offer them greater opportunities, depending in their IQ. But a high IQ result doesn’t measure the levels of creativity or creative thinking Therefore, Gladwell believes that success is the outcome from having a high IQ, education and upbringing. Gladwell proves his point by using Terman’s experiments, and the result proves that Gladwell was right all along by suggesting that children with superior scores aren’t necessarily the most successful adults.…

    • 347 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers: The Story of Success. 1st Ed. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2008. Print.…

    • 409 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    I have seen multiple opportunities in people life’s that have contributed to their success. I believe if people have the desire and heart to put them in this much hard work they will be able to skillful at it. Athletes have proved this theory to be true. A soccer player named Sergi Robert, from Barcelona, Spain has been one of many athletes that can prove Gladwell’s theory to be accurate. Since he was little boy he would always be watching soccer games and every opportunity he had to play with the much older soccer players he took it. Gladwell’s emphasizes how successful people have opportunities that sadly some don’t. Sergi Roberto started playing for a club named F.C Barcelona for younger kids. In a matter a time his opportunity to play at a young age with this club helped him move on to be with the more skillful soccer players. Eventually all those brutal soccer practices and games gave him the opportunity to practice. Now at the age of twenty one he plays for the team A soccer club Barcelona F.C one of the best soccer teams in the world. The 10,000 hour rule and he joining at the right time allowed Sergi Roberto to become successful soccer…

    • 1271 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Most people today think that people are born to be successful. In Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, he proves there are numerous factors that will help to succeed. To support his idea, he uses examples such as, cut-off date of the Canadian Hockey League, how Bill Gates and the Beatles spent at least 10,000 hours. In addition, he uses stories of Chris Langan, and Robert Oppenheimer to compare how one can succeed and can fail with extremely high IQs. Furthermore, Gladwell utilizes story Joseph Flom to show how he was able to build successful law firms with different cultural background. At last, he describes how cultural difference play a large role in looking into intelligence and decision…

    • 117 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Malcolm Gladwell, the author of Outliers, reveals multiple stories on what makes people successful. These individuals achieved great things and their journeys to success were different than the average people, which made them outliers. An outlier is defined in a way that describes a person who achieves uncommon, but extraordinary things. In the book, The Other Wes Moore, the author, Wes Moore, had a journey full of success. Still, he grew up with no father, rough times at school, and even had encounters with the police. When his mother realized he needed an intervention, she sent him to military school. From there, he experienced a new environment and was surrounded by people who supported him. Later in life, he became a decorated veteran and…

    • 192 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The book Outliers written by Maclolm Gladwell is a book about success. Throughout the book he gives numerous examples of how people have achieved and in some instances, not achieved success. Popular belief would suggest that people who are considered outliers have gotten there through hard work and innate talent. Gladwell however, suggest that something is contributing to people being able to seek the levels of success that would make them an outlier. Gladwell believes that hidden advantages, extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies are the main factors of predicting success. Gladwell makes strong arguments to back up his claims chapter after chapter in the book. While I was reading Outliers one…

    • 821 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Outliers Gladwell Analysis

    • 2440 Words
    • 10 Pages

    It is, rather, a gift. Outliers are those who have been given opportunities — and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them” (Gladwell, 2008). Gladwell manages to challenge the readers mind on what actually lends to one being successful. If everyone was afforded the same opportunities, environments, and attention it may affect the amount of wildly successful people we have in the world. Simply put certain factors like race, educational opportunities, and one’s home environment can make a huge difference between being wildly successful (an outlier) or just average. The theories and principles proposed in Outliers can easily be compared and contrasted to DuBrin’s text. DuBrin presents information that can be applied for one to be a successful leader. While Gladwell challenges the concept of one’s success just being a matter of luck and web of inherit advantages. Is your personal success a factor of your own hard work or is it just a number of factors that leant to you being successful, just…

    • 2440 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Success is mostly recognized by the person who succeeds, but most do not realize the factors that upturn someone to great success. In the book Outliers: The Story of Success, written by Malcolm Gladwell, lists prime examples of what it takes to be a true Outlier. An Outlier is someone that fits out of the ordinary and does not fit under the category of normal achievement. Gladwell demonstrates that almost all of society’s success stories are a paradigm; a pattern of fortunate events. Realizing that maybe we should be more aware of the paradigm of success in our world. Our perspective over the years has been that people complete success on their own, however, success has other driven forces. A true outlier does not obtain…

    • 1856 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are two rules for success: 1) Do not tell all your secrets. According to Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers, success can make someone's life marvelous. However, Gladwell does not follow the rules for success and tells us all the tips and tricks that he can find. Gladwell's tactics when talking to parents and future adults, perfectly informs them that they can be successful and here is exactly what to look out for. He does this because he cares and wants them to become successful. Gladwell also suggests many different ways that someone could be considered "successful," and part of that is being an outlier. Being an outlier is someone that is not apart of the norm and is "different," where in reality, everyone else is just the same. Being unique…

    • 629 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Being successful may imply to accomplishments or other external rewards, but being truly successful solely depends on an individual's way of interpreting their own values and actions in the past.Everybody has their own unique personality shaped by certain situations or cultural norms, but the way one utilize those learned morals determine success in life.Although success seems to be attainable only through gaudy and prestigious backgrounds,simple lives of less fortunate can also contribute to the level of success one can achieve in life.Success is greatly influenced by one's lifestyle and background because they motivate one to strive for change like Malcolm Gladwell, who advocated the importance of underdogs,the poem “if” with the theme of success and the eminent writer,shakespeare's famous quote which provides germane details on the impact of one's background that defines complete success in life.Success is being self actualized by knowing one's incapabilities and yet maintaining persistence to find alternative ways to tackle a challenge and our life backgrounds provide those characteristics required for success.…

    • 509 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    "And that opportunity played a critical role in their success" (30 Gladwell). Many times, people will argue that if you want something, you can achieve it simply through hard work; however, that is not always the case. In Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers, he explains the significant amount of opportunities that successful people are given. Gladwell uses the example of Joe Flom to explain how timing is a huge factor in success. Early in his career, he was declined by a huge law firm, and had to settle for a firm that was just starting out. Even though this seems like a disadvantage, it turned into an opportunity because the new law firm turned out to grow into one of the best. Another example used in Outliers would…

    • 1252 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    A lot of people misunderstand what leads to success. Success is more than just being able to fill your bank account with loads of money, it’s about being satisfied with the lifestyle that you have. Of course having money makes you happy, but it can’t buy happiness, love, respect, or even trust. Everyone is born with their own unique talents and is better at a specific skill compared to…

    • 726 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Success In Outliers

    • 1660 Words
    • 7 Pages

    “Success is not a random act. It arises out of a predictable and powerful set of circumstances and opportunities” (Gladwell 155). Gladwell is implying that success does not arbitrarily come to a person. It takes many foreseeable factors and circumstances. The claim that, “if you work hard enough and assert yourself, and use your mind and imagination, you can shape the world to your desires” (Gladwell 151) is valid to a certain extent. However, hard work and the use of one’s mind and imagination alone are not enough to make one prosperous. Many other factors come into play when aiming for success. In Malcolm Gladwell’s novel Outliers: The Story of Success, success comes to those who are given opportunities and to those who are born at the right…

    • 1660 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    circumstances and opportunities in a person’s life, not a testament to personal talent or ability like our society views it. Gladwell supports his central argument using case studies. His book is divided into two sections,“Opportunity” and “Legacy,” where he further explains his claim using individual cases of either success or failure.…

    • 372 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays