My review of Outliers

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell reminded me of the Veritasium video Is Success Luck or Hard Work? The central idea is that success is a combination of both luck and hard work.

One example is the hockey player selection process in Canada. Children born earlier in the age bracket are slightly stronger, which increases their chances of being selected for more training opportunities. In contrast, children born later receive fewer opportunities. Over time, this initial advantage leads to a wider gap in skill because the younger children miss out on that early training — and this cycle continues, widening the gap even more.

However, luck alone is not meaningful without hard work. This is illustrated by the KIPP school in South Bronx, where students from low-income households (in other words, students with bad “luck”) are required to study for longer hours — essentially, putting in more hard work. As a result, these students achieve strong academic performance despite their disadvantaged circumstances.

In my opinion, luck plays a greater role. In the case of KIPP, students must first be selected before being admitted — meaning some students experience “double bad luck.” Still, we should always do our best and put in as much hard work as we can, whether we find ourselves in good or bad luck.

Oh, and one more thing — this book is really easy to read. I finished it quickly without ever feeling bored.