Have you taken a look yet at Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell? 

    It's quite worthwhile.

    Gladwell, a longtime writer for The New Yorker and the bestselling author of The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference (2000) and Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (2005)--both of which were noted in Reader's Digest when they were published--has a gift for using science, psychology, sociology, and history to create something entirely new. 

    Call it the Malcolm Machine.  

    In Outliers, he discusses why some individuals achieve enormous success in their lives and why others do not. People like Mozart, Bill Gates and the Beatles come under his handy, well-oiled microscope, as do pro-hockey players born in January (the best month for them to be born in, as it turns out); Asian schoolchildren who excel at math (credit those rice paddies of old); and garment-shop owners and lawyers of Eastern European Jewish descent (in a nutshell, culture is everything).

Were (and are) all of these people talented, smart, hardworking, and full of drive and zest? Yes.

    Did they have help along the way? Yes.

    They did not achieve what they achieved alone.

    A few things helped them. Like circumstance. And luck. And opportunity. And environment. And nurturing. And more help, of all kinds. 

    Does Gladwell cover every angle of these individuals' successes? No. A book like this almost invariably ends up leaving some key details out (and one can argue whether Gladwell left them out on purpose or not). In his discussion of The Beatles and their achievements, for example, he gives a nod to all those hours of practice and toil in the dingy clubs of Hamburg for helping the group cohere and excel into a performing powerhouse--more hours of playing together than most music groups ever have in their lifetimes.

    The number 10,000 is critical to Gladwell--as in, 10,000 hours of slaving away over the years to achieve true genius.

    But nowhere does Gladwell mention George Martin, Brian Epstein, or anyone else for the expertise and advice they also lent the Fab Four, in various ways, over the years, which helped them sharpen, hone, market, and perfect their talent.

    Gladwell's book is fascinating on so many levels, though. And it will indeed make you reconsider how successful people achieve what they achieve. 

    In our December 2008 issue of Reader's Digest we featured a revealing interview with Gladwell by David Hochman.

    Outliers is currently a New York Times #1 bestseller and a Publishers Weekly #1 bestseller. It's been on both those lists since its pub date. 

    It was an Amazon 'best of the month' pick for November 2008.

    It'll be around for awhile--check it out, and share thoughts!