Malcolm Gladwell books are quickly becoming events, the rare business texts that are anticipated by a growing throng of “Malcoholic” readers eager to see which crevasse he’ll enter and illuminate for our enlightenment and reading pleasure.

Gladwell latest title, Outliers: The Story of Success  (Little, Brown & Co. 2008) takes a interesting look at “Outliers” defined by the author as the high achievers that fall outside of the common standard.  However rather than highlighting success stories with tales of the immensely talented or incredibly fortuitous among us Gladwell instead attempts to uncover sociological reasons to explain the why’s of success.  For instance, in Canada’s amateur hockey program an inordinate amount of the players who ultimately achieve the highest levels of success are born in January, February, or March. As a trivial piece of information taken out of context you might think that there was something in the water, but as Gladwell explains the effect it becomes clearer. The cutoff birth date for youth hockey in Canada is January 1^st, and therefore a youth born in the first days of the year may be a literal year older than those who are born in late December – a significant factor when considering the physical development of pre-teen age boys.  He goes on to site several other similar examples of how achievement is recognized and cultivated at a young age based on factors that may automatically eliminate equally or even more talented individuals with a different set of environmental factors.

A related focus in the book describes the “10,000 hour rule”, which it has been observed by notable social scientists as the approximate amount of time to reach mastery in any craft. In Outliers Gladwell uses examples including a study of classical musicians, with those who completed more than 10,000 as being far more accomplished than those with 8,000 (and Lord help the musicians with only 4,000 hours of practice). The underlying point is that talent is an assistant, but hard work is the only true measure of success.

To wrap up our review we’ll ask, and answer, a few questions:

Does Malcolm Gladwell reach a bit too far at times? Sure.

Does he tend to make sweeping generalizations in order to smooth his points on occasion? Of course.

Does he write quick, entertaining, interesting books with a core that can be applied to most business and personal situations? Yes. Without question.

Much is made of Gladwell’s willingness to take broad strokes on small canvases. Read Outliers for enjoyment, and for the handful of eyebrow raising points that the author makes – not as an opportunity for debate – and you’ll be left anxiously awaiting Gladwell’s next installment.