outliers the story_of_success

Outliers Trivia

Did this Outlier attend UM?

Larry Page - Google Co-founder/CEO

UMICH

George Clooney

Northern Kentucky University

Billy Joy - Co-founder Sun Microsystems

UMICH

Iggy Pop - Rockstar

UMICH

How did Michael Jordan rise to the top?

Michael McCarthy, Richard Ozdowy Michael Hopps, Blair Hagerman

Intro

• Major Themes: o Why do some people succeed?

o Why do some live remarkably productive and impactful lives, while so many more never reach their potential?

o What are common attributes of an “Outlier”?

Chpt 1

• Many overemphasize “personal” qualities instead of focusing on timingo Sometimes better to be in the right place at the

right time than • Canadian Hockey

o Maturity advantage due to age cutoff• “The Matthew Effect”

o Compounding effect on success

How do I become successful like these guys?

Chpt 2

• 10,000 hour rule o To master a particular skill, it takes

approximately 10,000 hours (or about 10 years)o Examples: Bill Joy, Bill Gates, The Beatles

• Nearly all exceedingly successful individuals are the beneficiary of some kind of unusual opportunity

Ch 3

Einstein and who??

Ch 3

• Lewis Terman - Stanford Psychology Researchero 250,000 elementary students

Of those, he followed on the top .1% "Termites"

• What happened with his experiment?

• Results weren't at all what he expected

• Divided adult Termites into 3 subgroups

• A, B, and C

Ch 3

• Liam Hudson – IQ is like height in NBA, only passing threshold matters

• University of Michigan study on Umich Law students

• Convergence vs Divergence test – creativity, being able to think outside the box

• Pitirim Sorokin Sociologist that critiqued Terman

Ch 4

• Chris Langan vs J. Robert Oppenheimero Difference in upbringing

• Practical Intelligence

• Innate knowledge vs. learned knowledge – social savvy

• Annette Lareau - study of 3rd graders and class differences

"One child is better off than another because s/he's wealthier and because s/he goes to a better school, but also because—and perhaps this is even more critical—the sense of entitlement that s/he has been taught is an attitude perfectly suited to succeeding in the modern world."

Ch 5

Joe Flom - Skadden Arps - NYC Law Firm, another typical rags to riches story?

3 Factors: Race/Ethnicity, Demographic Luck, Parent's Occupation

• Jewish• Looking for work in 50s, 60s when

Litigation/"proxy fights" were seen as second class work

• Parent's were entrepreneurs

Skadden Arps2,000 Attorneys

Revenue: 2.2 Billion

Ch 6

• Cultures of honoro European herdsmen vs. farmerso Southern United Stateso Murder rates vs petty crimeso Howard-Turner Feud

Ch 6

• Southern man living by gas station• "He wouldn't of been much of a man if he hadn't

shot them fellows"

Ch 6

• University of Michigan Studyo Students tested on propensity to angero Insulted the studentso Students from South more prone to anger

Ch 7

• From 1988 to 1998, the percentage of flights lost by Korean Airlines was seventeen times higher than that of United Airlines

• Why?

Ch 7

• Black boxes revealed "mitigated speech"• Similar crash from Colombia to JFK

o  Pilot: "Advise him [the air-traffic controller] we don't have fuel"

o First officer to ATC: "Climb and maintain three thousand and, ah, we're running out of fuel, sir"

• Some cultures have high deference for authority• Korean Air changed language to English

Ch 8: Agriculture: Western vs Eastern

• "Single village of 15 people can support itself with 450 acres of rice paddy land (pg 232)."

• Eastern farming attitudes transfer to the classroom...

Eastern: Rice paddies required intense human labor, 360-day work years, detail-oriented techniques

Western: Wheat and corn fields allowed for breaks during cold winter season, mechanically-driven

Ch 8: Learning: Western vs Eastern

• Western schools took notice, established KIPP public school system in Bronx, embedded hard-working Eastern aptitude

• "84% excel in math, 90% scholarships rewarded to private high schools, 80% KIPP graduates attend college" (pg. 267)

Eastern:Hard working aptitude + logical language -> better memorization ->  better math skills -> love to learn -> success

Western: Shorter school days, longer summers, "a mind must be cultivated, but not too much, lest it be exhausted." (pg 254)

Michael Jordan: A True Outlier

Michael Jordan: A True Outlier

• Born in Brooklyn, New York• Moved to Wilmington, North Carolina when toddler • Mom worked in banking, father GE plant supervisor• Father loved sports and pushed Michael to play• Did not make varsity team as high school sophomore

due to height• To prove worth, practiced 24/7 • Grew 4" the following summer and became star of

varsity• Basketball scholarship to UNC Chapel Hill • Legendary coach Dean Smith at UNC