outliers - chief executive boards international · 1 we share ideas outliers the story of success...
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We Share Ideas
OutliersThe Story of Success
byMalcolm Gladwell
We Share Ideas
chief
We Share Ideas
Outliers
• Outliers are men and women who do things out of the ordinary
• To understand why certain people become outliers we must look at factors beyond innate talent. We must also look at:– Where they were reared– When they grew up– The culture they belonged to– The characteristics passed down by their
forebearsWe Share Ideas
The Ecology of Organisms
• The tallest tree in the forest probably came from a hardy acorn, but other factors also contributed to its height. Such factors as:– No other trees blocked sunlight from getting
through to the tree– The soil around the tree was rich in nutrients– No animals chewed through its bark when it
was a young tree– No one cut it down before it matured
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The Effect of Birth Dates• An analysis of a highly successful
Canadian hockey team found:– 40% of the players were born between
January and March– 30% were born between April and June– 20% were born between July and
September– 10% were born between October and
December
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The Effect of Birth Dates• In Canada the eligibility cut off for
age-class (club) hockey is January 1– Those players born early in the year are
bigger and more mature than those born later in the year
– As a consequence, the older players perform better and are picked for advanced placement where they receive better coaching and more playing time
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The Effect of Birth Dates• In the U.S., the cutoff for almost all
non-school baseball leagues is July 31 – As a result, more major league players are
born in August than in any other month
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Summary of the Effects of Age
• If you make a decision about who is talented and who is not at an early age
and• You separate the “talented” from the
“untalented” and provide the talented ones with superior experiences
• You will give a huge advantage to those born shortly after the cutoff date
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The “Matthew Effect”• “For unto everyone that hath shall be
given, and he shall have abundance. But from him that hath not shall be taken away even which he hath.”
• The rich have a natural advantage• The best students get the best teachers
and the most attention
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Accumulative Advantage• Some people start off a little bit superior
to their peers• This initial small difference leads to more
opportunities, which makes them more superior, which leads to more opportunities, etc., etc., etc.
We Share Ideas
Gates’ Advantage• Parents – Wealthy Lawyer/Banker’s daughter• 7th grade - Private School/Computer club• 1968 - Mother’s Club bought computer terminal
for mainframe in downtown Seattle• U. Wash – Computer Center Corp. – leased
mainframe time (founder’s son @ same school)• ISI – Free time for working on payroll app• TRW – Independent study semester, writing
code for Bonneville power station app• Dropped out of Harvard – had 7 years’
programming experienceWe Share Ideas
The 10,000 Hour Rule• The closer psychologists look at the
careers of outliers, the less important is innate talent and the more important is preparation
• Ten thousand hours is the magic number for expertise in most areas
• Before they became famous, the Beatles played eight hours a day, seven days a week in a club in Hamburg
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The Effect of Timing• The most important date in the history
of the personal computer revolution isJanuary 1975 when the Altair 8800 was introduced
• If you were too old for the personal computer revolution in 1975 you were probably born before 1952
• If you were born after 1959 you were probably too young• Leaders of the personal computer revolution:
– Bill Gates – 1955 (Microsoft)– Paul Allen – 1953 (Microsoft #2)– Steve Ballmer – 1956 (Microsoft #24)– Steve Jobs – 1955 (Apple)– Eric Schmidt – 1955 (PARC, Sun (Java), Novell, Google)
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The Effect of Parentage• Wealthy parents can afford to give their
children opportunities that less wealthy parents cannot
• Poor children have an inherent disadvantage in school – a disadvantage that, in fact, widens every year
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Academics vs. Socioeconomics• Karl Alexander, Sociologist
at Johns Hopkins University • 640 First Graders, Baltimore - 1982• California Achievement Test
(math/reading)
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Year-End Test Scores
534497461
5 Yr
Hi/Low 566460418361High467425388348Middle433397375329Low
4 Yr3 Yr2 Yr1 YrSocioeconClass
32 732x
232725
28343960High41344369Middle33304655Low
Progress/Year189
184
Totals
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Over Summer Vacation(reading only)
13.3814.519.2215.38High2.343.684.18-3.11Middle2.892.74-1.70-3.67Low
4th3rd2nd1stSocioeconClass
.267.09
52.49
Total
Why?
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Solution? More School• Average School Year
– USA: 180 days– South Korea: 220– China: 230– Japan: 243
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KIPP Academy• Mid-90’s – Grades 5-8• @ Lou Gehrig Middle School, South Bronx• 7:25 am – 5 pm, Saturday 9 am – 1 pm• 90 Minutes of English/day• 90 Minutes of Math/day
(2 hr/day in 5th grade)• 95% at or above grade level in math• 90% get private HS Scholarships• 86% to college (1st generation for many)
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KIPP NYC
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In Summary1. Success is predictable2. It is not the brightest who succeed 3. Outliers take maximum advantage of the
opportunities that are made available to them
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OutliersThe Story of Success
byMalcolm Gladwell