Once again, Malcolm Gladwell has written an excellent book which makes you think differently about conventional wisdom. Well, it actually should not surprises us anymore as Malcolm is after all, the guy who introduced concepts such as tipping points, 10,000 hours training, etc. In his latest book titled David & Goliath, Malcolm have elegantly shown us that what we perceived as weakness can be turned on its head and becomes an advantage just like how David with its perceived weaknesses can defeat the giant Goliath by using its advantages such as being more mobile and agile compared to the cumbersome and slow Goliath. The book is such a joy to read (as usual and what we have come to expect from Malcolm Gladwell) and it will makes you think differently about different aspects of life from money, sports, crime, etc. The book certainly makes it argument clear that sometimes too many of a good thing may be bad for us and this also applies to money and even also imprisonment of criminals. Surprising findings? Well, it would not be surprising anymore after you have read Malcolm's latest book. As such, I would recommend this book to everyone just for the sole objective that we should always be open minded to so-called foregone conclusions. For me, it is important that we approach life with an open and inquisitive mind and we will find life such a joy and full of excitement.
As usual, some extracts from the book which I find useful:
1) "Any fool can spend money. But to earn it and save it and defer gratification - then you learn to value it differently." (Such a simple and yet powerful statement. The marketing media is actually very powerful and they have successfully created the image that anyone who is careful with their money is perceived as stingy and is not desirable. Similarly, I have met a lot of women who is proud to display their "skills" in spending money and how they can differentiate different branded goods. For this I would like to add my own quote: "It is easy to find women who can spend money but it is very difficult to find a woman who is careful with your money and values it. When you find such a woman, then you have found a woman who loves you and cares about both of your future.") :p
2) Money makes parenting easier until a certain point - when it stops making much of a difference.
3) ..... we form our impressions not globally, placing ourselves in the broadest possible context, but locally - by comparing ourselves to people "in the same boat as ourselves." Our sense of how deprived we are is relative. (We always compare ourselves with people surrounding us. As such, ask yourself which one would be happier? The person who is the worst among the best or the person who is the best among the worst? Is it worth it if your child's results are average and you still force him/her to pursue tough career such as medicine where he/she will likely ends up being the worst among the best?)
4) "A lot of people think that going to an academically selective school is going to be good," he said. "That's just not true. The reality is that it is going to be mixed." (By the psychologist Herbert Marsh who pioneered the Big Fish - Little Pond theory).
5) ...... if you want to see the positive effects of elite schools on self-concept, you are measuring the wrong person. You should be measuring the parents." (Another powerful statement. Are we as parents guilty of fulfilling our own pride and ego when we make certain decisions for our children and then mask it as for their own good?)
6) ..... what is learned out of necessity is inevitably more powerful than the learning that comes easily. (It is important for any leaders/managers to develop a culture of curiosity within your organisation where people would look for solutions out of necessity as opposed to an organisation who expects to be spoon-fed with solutions from their leaders/managers.)
7) As the playwright George Bernard Shaw once put it: "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." (Again, this makes you thing. Is it a bad thing if you have a team member who is "unreasonable" and who may seems difficult to manage but can deliver if given the right motivation? Well, everyone has their own skills and weaknesses. As such, as leader/manager, it is up to us to nurture the various talents and bring out the best from each individual.)
8) ..... learning how to deal with the possibility of failure is really good preparation for a career in the business world. (I guess this not only applies in the business world but on life too. It is important that we learn how to deal with failure.)
9) Courage is not something that you already have that makes you brave when the tough times start. Courage is what you earn when you've been through the tough times and you discover they aren't so tough after all. (So, courage is earned through experience.)
10) ..... we need to remember that our definition of what is right is, as often as not, simply the way the people in positions of privilege close the door on those on the outside. (This can be seen in politics where the ruling party would term those who are challenging them as ungrateful, disloyal, etc. even though for a healthy democracy, it is important to have opposing views.)
11) "It has been said that most revolutions are not caused by revolutionaries in the first place, but by the stupidity and brutality of governments," Sean MacStiofain, the provisional IRA's first chief of staff, said once, looking back on those early years.
12) We often think of authority as a response to disobedience: a child acts up, so a teacher cracks down............... disobedience can also be a response to authority. If the teacher doesn't do her job properly, then the child will become disobedient. (This certainly got me thinking. If someone reporting to me starts to acts up, is it because of his/her inherent difficult behaviour or is it because I have not done my job as a leader properly?)
13) Instead of responding in a 'let me control your behaviour' way, the teacher needs to think, 'How can I do something interesting that will prevent you from misbehaving in the first place?' (Applies to any manager/leader as well. How do I do something that will prevent my staff from misbehaving in the first place?)
14) When people in authority want the rest of us to behave, it matters - first and foremost - how they behave. This is called the "principle of legitimacy," and legitimacy is based on three things. First of all, the people who are asked to obey authority have to feel like they have a voice - that if they speak up, they will be heard. Second, the law has to be predictable. There has to be a reasonable expectation that the rules tomorrow are going to be roughly the same as the rules today. And third, the authority has to be fair. It can't treat one group differently from another. (Important points to all leaders/managers. This principle of legitimacy also applies to how a company is run!).
15) And when the law is applied in the absence of legitimacy, it does not produce obedience. It produces the opposite. It leads to backlash.
In summary, this is an excellent book which I would recommend to everyone. The extracts from the book which I listed above is short not because there are not many useful lessons from the book but because Malcolm is such a good writer than reading his book is like reading a story book. As such, to do justice to his works, it is important to read the book itself to appreciate his arguments and reasoning.
Have a nice weekend!
