David and Goliath, Gladwell's New Book, Makes You Think

Book Review - Can David and Goliath Help Your Promo Business?

A bat and a ball cost $1.10 total.  The Bat cost $1.00 more than the ball.  How much does the ball cost?  Click on this link for the surprise answer.

One thing you can be sure will always happen when you read something by Malcolm Gladwell, you will start thinking just a little differently.  I've read The Tipping Point which I reviewed here.  I've also read Blink, which I suppose I should review at some point.  I just bought Outliers, which I will definitely review in these spaces in a couple of weeks.  As the headline indicates, Gladwll makes you think.

For instance, David's victory over Goliath should have been obvious, says Gladwell.  An accurate projectile fired from 100 feet away is certainly safer than going into close quarters with a guy two feet taller than you.  There's more to that story that I'll let you read for yourself.

Many of our top entrepreneurs are dyslexic.  Way out of proportion to the general population.  Turns out top achievers also have disproportionately had a great loss (death of a parent) in their childhood.  How do these kinds of setbacks result in creating successful individuals?

Gladwell is clear that he is indicating his agreement with the Biblical principle that we will all have tribulation in this life, but that it is for our good.  Our success is dependent on what we do about it.  How we deal.  He is also proposing that really successful folks become excellent at working around such issues, and finding unique ways to overcome. To a certain extent, Gladwell probably says that we are not as likely to be really successful, but for the tribulation.

My beef with Gladwell is that many of his examples lied, cheated, bullied, or otherwise used bad behavior to achieve their results.  Gladwell speaks to this, but not loudly enough.  I'm wondering (hoping) that maybe there are examples of citizens who have overcome adversity without having to compromise character.

I didn't find this book to be as good as the other two.  I highly recommend Tipping Point.  Blink is a fine read.  This one is worth the $7.50 on Kindle.