Success is got when one achieves something he or she has been trying to gain. Malcolm Gladwell uses the Mathew Effect and the Ten Thousand Hour rule to show success in his story, ‘The Outliers’. The important basics of success are talent, passion, and hard work.
The Mathew Effect is likened to the way sports clubs find their future star players. It includes the music industry and the world of ballets. Also, it is observed in the choosing of learners to the best educational system. To be successful your ability and hard work matters. The case of the hockey players is important in the explanation of success. This case is against the idea that the brightest have a good opportunity to shine. Therefore, talent and opportunity play a big role towards attaining success. Success is achieved as one grows from a child to an adult. Success is slow but sure. The professional player in the hockey team increasingly attains success. This reveals the difference between talent and success.
People should stop personalizing success. The rules we make discourage achievement. It is not helpful to consider people as failures. The less performing people need our support. We tend to celebrate those who have become successful. Sometimes we separate ourselves from those who have failed. For that reason, success should not be seen as a simple function of the individual achievement. The background and the ways of the society do not count at all.
Gladwell uses Gord Wasden as an example to show the Mathew effect. Gord Wasden’s son, Scott, one of the Medicine Hat Tigers Team players used to play hockey at the age of five. He used to do it from morning till night because he had passion for it. And he was about to play the big match of his life. Therefore, he should work hard to maintain his standing. Scott had taken playing hockey has a career and his father was proud of him. Of course, Scott was lucky. He was born within the three days of the perfect birthday. Ability grouping is done at the younger age bracket.
The Ten Thousand Hours rule is impossible to reach alone. A person must get a special opportunity to know something. Ten thousand hours of practice are required to attain the mastery of a world class expert. The most successful hockey players such as Beatles, Bill Joy and Bill Gates were all talented. Their stories also provide a complete image of what success entails and how to go about it. However, what made them different are the opportunities they got.
The story of Bill Gates is quite interesting. He was a wise and young mathematician who discovered opportunities in the computer programming science. He never completed his education at Harvard. Instead, he decided to drop out. He started a computer company, Microsoft, with some of his friends. He turned his company into the giant software world. Bill Gates’ opportunity with computers came in during his second year at Lakeside school. When he joined the school, the administration started a computer club. Lakeside school was private and preserved for students who came from rich families. His father was a wealthy lawyer, and his mother was a daughter to a renowned banker. In the 1960s, most colleges in the United States did not have computer clubs.
Therefore, it is necessary to conclude that talent and opportunity are keys to success. The background and norms of the society do not matter at all. The most essential elements of success are talent, passion, opportunity and hard work. If any individual is able to connect among the four elements, success is unavoidable
Works Cited
Beaverbrook, Max A. Success. Waiheke Island: Floating Press, 2008. Print.
Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers: The Story of Success. New York: Little, Brown and Co, 2008. Print.
