Malcolm Gladwell's new book is about success and the special characteristics of people who are successful. Speaking of success, Gladwell's massive book sales appear to follow a simple formula: Step 1: Tell stories about special people with magic powers. Step 2: Explain how the magic powers can make you rich or popular or smart with almost no effort. I like to call it the “superheros and free lunch” strategy - since his books are about remarkable people who get amazing results with almost no effort. We simply can't resist fantasies about superheros and free lunches! Gladwell's two massive bestsellers both promise that we can get something for nothing: The Tipping Point explains “How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference” and Blink shows us “The Power of Thinking Without Thinking”. Outliers is a big shift away from the superhero and free lunch formula. It is the most sociological of Gladwell's books - suggesting that society shapes people, that success is often accidental, and circumstances matter more than individual talent. That might be why the book is getting panned by critics. The New York Times review calls the book “Glib, Poorly Reasoned and Thoroughly Unconvincing”. The Gladwell backlash is in full swing, perhaps because people only like Gladwell when he is telling them about superheroes and get free lunches!

Jonah Peretti
posted about 3 years ago

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