Outliers & The Element, one book right after the other
I’ve just finished listening to two audiobooks (via iTunes): Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell and The Element by Ken Robinson – one right after the other. They went really well together. Not only a good combination of compatible ideas, but each book also had something important to say that the other book didn’t quite capture.
Outliers shows us how good timing, opportunity to practice and hard work are often the most common characteristics of the most successful people. The Element shows how successful individuals are successful usually in spite of their education, a system that often focuses too much on curriculum planning and assessment and too little on nurturing human talent.
The example of the Beatles came up in both books. Gladwell cites how the Beatles had the opportunity to hone their live act, musicianship and song writing through hours of live playing on the Hamburg club scene (at least 10,000 hours is the magic number Gladwell cites). Robinson talks about Paul McCartney’s bad music teacher, and how he and John Lennon would instead mentor each other in their musical development. Robinson focuses on the diversity of talent, engagement, circles of influence and other social phenomena and inner reserves that support creativity and get people into their ‘element’. Gladwell focuses on the timing of opportunities and the advantage we get from being able to make the most of these opportunities.
All in all, a satisfying combination of books that I highly recommend.
