Thank you my friend who gave me this book:)
When we read stories about very successful people, we often understand that they really worked hard, and if we do the same now, we can become successful like them. This book explains the other big factors that helped those outliers to reach the greatest achievements. Of course, they are striving and smart people, but they are also lucky in many ways. I liked how the author wrote about the story of success in a realistic and interesting way.
The Mathew Effect
Would you believe that which month children were born can determine how good students or athletes they will become? The intelligence and physical ability gap between two children born in January and December of the same year is bigger than it seems.
Kindergarten teachers tend to confuse maturity with ability. The kids who were born in the first 3 months of the year usually do better than the others, and teachers think that they’re more “skilled”. They put the older students in the advanced stream, where those kids learn better skills and have more opportunities. The Matthew Effect refers to a pattern in which those who begin with advantage accumulate more advantage over time and those who begin with disadvantage become more disadvantaged over time.
If you think about your middle school classmates, you might realize that the students who are a bit older were in high-level classes or football teams. This gap persists for years.
If you were born in the early part of the year, you’re one of the lucky people who had a small initial advantage from the beginning.
The 10,000-Hour Rule
I don’t really like this rule but after reading this chapter, it makes sense.
The Beatles, for the most random of reasons, got invited to Hamburg and they played for 270 nights in just a year and a half, completing 10,000 hours. Of course, McCartney and Lennon are genius musicians, but if they didn’t have an opportunity to spend that much time playing and writing songs, we might not have Hey Jude.
Studies show that the brain takes ten thousand hours of practice to achieve true mastery. Long enough practice + talent + luck = ?
Not everyone has the opportunity to spend 10,000 hours on one’s passion, again, you should be lucky too. If you’re poor and you have a part-time job, your parents don’t support you, or you don’t have the environment to do the thing you like, it’s impossible to achieve this number.
When does intelligence matter?
The relationship between success and IQ works only up to a point. Once someone reaches an IQ of 120, having some additional points wouldn’t be a big advantage. A scientist with an IQ of 130 is likely to win a Nobel Prize as is one whose IQ is 180.
Langan, recognized as the smartest person in the world having an IQ of 195–210 (it’s crazy high), is a horse rancher, not a successful scientist. If he had a better childhood and parents who could support him, he might’ve been a genius scientist or the richest person.
Intelligence matters only up to a threshold, then past that point, other things — things that have nothing to intelligence — start to matter more.
Practical intelligence
Not only IQ, but EQ matters a lot when it comes to success. It’s very important to know what to say to whom, when to say it, and how to say it for maximum effect. Analytical intelligence can come from genes, but we get practical intelligence from our families. It’s important how our families and environments were when we grew up. EQ is a set of skills that have to be learned. Some people are born smart like Langan, but without good communication skills, he can’t be an outlier.
Magic time
Bill Gates had access to a PC when he was a teenager. He was passionate about software, he was smart, and he put 10,000 hours into it at a young age. When the world changed, he was ready. Being born in 1955 was a magic time for software engineers.
Being one of those people born in a small generation has many benefits. High schools have enough teachers and fewer students, hospitals have ample places for kids, and it’s easier to get into a good university because demand is high and new entrants are low.
Meaningful work
Would The Beatles spend so much time in music if they didn’t find meaning in it? To master something, it should be a meaningful work.
There should be autonomy, complexity, and a relationship between effort and reward in doing creative work, and that’s worth more than money.
Hard work is a prison sentence only if it doesn’t have a meaning. Once it does, you won’t suffer to put 10,000 hours into the thing you like.
Summary
We pretend that success is a matter of individual merit. Actually, no one ever makes it alone. You can’t become an outlier with only a growth mindset if you’re poor, unlucky, born in the wrong generation, or you don’t find meaning in what you do.
Outliers are those who have been given opportunities — and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them.
What we can do?
I was born at the end of October so I didn’t have that initial advantage from kindergarten. There are many skilled people in my generation, making the competition higher than before. Since we can’t choose when and where we were born, we should find the thing we’ll be passionate about. Bill and Paul McCartney found their passions at a young age. But it doesn’t have to be the same for everyone. I’m 20 and I don’t know what the fuck I want to do in my life, but it’s okay. Intelligence is not the only thing that brings success. We should continuously improve our soft skills, search for our ikigais, try different things, and be up to date. What is coming in the next 10 years? Will I be ready when those big changes happen? Most importantly, when you are given an opportunity, grab it. Opportunities will come when you are at the right place, at the right time, and with the right people.
2024.03.09 nanachka
