Outliers

Having just finished reading the new Malcolm Gladwell book, Outliers www.gladwell.com/outliers, I was pleased to find out that Gladwell was in London and on stage at the Lyceum theatre for one night only! So having secured a ticket I found myself in amongst a hugely 'varied' audience of people from all walks of life and all ages.

Gladwell's premise for Outliers is the story of success or more specifically the fact that where you were born and raised and by whom plays a significant part in whether you are successful or not (I guess not dissimilar to the nature versus nurture debate?) Your culture, history, background and the opportunities open to you all shape your future success…Did you grow up in a supportive environment; were opportunities open to you; were you supported in some way to follow your dream by chance or by judgment?

A theme he comes back to is the 10,000 hours rule: did you put in the time (whether it be 10,000 coding computer programs or 10,000 hours practice on the court) practice and hone your skills, knowledge or experience?

What I found most interesting was Gladwell's reference to the work of Gert Hofstede and his cultural dimensions in particular; how different nations are more or less tolerant of ambiguity and uncertainty than others. This scale or dimension of least to most tolerant is an indicator of a 'national level' of resilience. Gladwell listed Hofstede's top and bottom five of most and least resilient and the results were surprising!
Now like all models, Hofstede's cultural dimension is not black and white and just because an individual is from the least tolerant nation does not mean they can't be resilient and vice versa but it gives us a framework to explore why particular nations and cultures might manage change well