Top 10 Theories That Will CHANGE What You KNOW About SUCCESS
10. Being an Underdog Can be Advantageous
You're probably familiar with Malcolm Gladwell, who writes and researches on the topic of
success. In his book David and Goliath, he examines the concept of the underdog and argues
that they actually have a greater advantage than the so-called "Goliaths." When the
Goliaths win, it's often because the underdog is playing by Goliath's rules. However,
if "David" looks at the situation from a completely different angle and approaches
it with their own unique take, then the underdog has a better chance at winning. According
to Gladwell, the underdog can substitute effort for ability under the right conditions.
Using the titular biblical example, Goliath was expecting hand-to-hand combat. David approached
it differently and used a sling to fire a stone at Goliath's head. David essentially
brought a gun to a fistfight. This wasn't against the rules, and David won because he
didn't go along with Goliath's expectations. For an additional example, see that famous
sword "fight" scene in Indiana Jones.
History is full of underdogs beating the favored opponent simply because they were innovative.
The Spartans held off the Persians at the Battle of Thermopylae, and T. E. Lawrence
led the Bedouins across the desert to fight the Turks. Innovation and thinking outside
the box can be more advantageous than being skillful. So if the odds are against you,
perhaps you just need to stop playing by everyone else's rules and embrace your strengths.
9. Society Has Built-in Obstacles
There are certain obstacles in our lives that are hard to overcome. It can be as simple
as when and where you're born — in Malcolm Gladwell's popular book, Outliers, he gives
the example of hockey players that are drafted to the NHL.
As children, all hockey players who are born in the same year play in the same division.
However, if you compare an eight year old who was born on January 1 to a player who
was born December 31, there are drastic differences. The player born in January has had almost
a whole extra year to grow and develop, meaning they could be faster, stronger and simply
better than a player born in December. Then when it comes time to pick players for more
competitive teams, the older and more developed children will have an advantage. They're
more likely to be chosen to go on for more training and play against other elite players.
That cycle will continue, and the players born in December will always be playing catch
up. Between 1980 and 2007, 36% of players drafted into the NHL were born in the first
quarter of the year, while only 14.5% of the players that were drafted were born in the
last quarter of the year.
This shows that there are always going to be challenges in life, but it also presents
an interesting idea. What would happen if youth hockey had one league for children born
in the first six months and one for children born in the last six months? This would possibly
change the playing field and double the amount of great players.
Hockey is far from the only field that uses rigid timetables. School, which often builds
the foundation for success, is also structured so children born earlier in the year have
more time to learn and mature than those born later in the year. What would happen if schools
had enrollment times every six months instead of once a year?
8. No One Succeeds on Their Own
While it would be nice to succeed simply because we work hard, life doesn't work that way.
We need help and support from friends, family and teachers, and then we need chances from
employers and other key figures in the fields we choose to pursue. To illustrate this point,
in Outliers Gladwell talks about two men with genius level intellect — Christopher Langan
and Robert Oppenheimer. Many readers may know Oppenheimer as the "father of the atomic
bomb," but Langan is much more obscure.
Langan was born in 1952 and has an IQ between 195 and 210, which is higher than both Einstein
and Stephen Hawking. However, Langan isn't teaching theoretical physics at Harvard — he's
a rancher in Missouri. While there's nothing wrong with being a rancher, it's an odd
profession for one of the smartest living people.
Gladwell points out that the men grew up in two different environments. Langan was born
into a poor rural family and attended public schools that didn't recognize his brilliance.
After high school he attended Reed College, but had to drop out in the second semester
because his mother had failed to fill out scholarship forms. A year and a half later,
after working in construction and as a forest firefighter, he enrolled at Montana State
University. However, he was having problems getting to school because his car broke down.
He asked the school if he could change from two morning classes to afternoon classes because
he could get a ride later in the day, but the university refused. Langan became increasingly
frustrated and eventually dropped out.
Oppenheimer, on the other hand, was raised in an environment where his gifts were cultured,
he was encouraged from a young age, and was given the best education possible. While at
Cambridge, he tried to poison a professor he was envious of. He was caught but only
put on probation, and was allowed to continue studying.
It's amazing that both brilliant men went down such different paths based on the help
they received. Langan was frustrated by a lack of support, while Oppenheimer committed
a serious crime and got away with a slap on the wrist. The lesson is that in order to
succeed, the gifts and interests of a person need to be encouraged, especially at a young
age. Then as they grow up, people need to be given opportunities, breaks and second
chances. Without help from other people, it makes it impossible to succeed because as
Gladwell points out, "… no one—not rock stars, not professional athletes, not software
billionaires, and not even geniuses — ever makes it alone."
7. IQ is Overrated
In the business world, it always seems like the smartest guys are the most successful.
After all, firms hire the best and brightest from schools. However, while people with high
test scores do have more opportunities, that doesn't necessarily mean that smart people
are more successful. In fact, in many fields the link between success and intelligence
is often weak or non-existent.
Intelligence is a complicated thing with many different facets, yet society still measures
intelligence with IQ tests, grades in school and exam results. That ignores critical thinking
skills and emotional intelligence.
Sociologists performed a test that involved betting on horses, which is similar to picking
stocks because you're given little pieces of information on performance and then it's
up to you to pick a winner. What they found was that people with lower intelligence performed
better. When a person with higher IQ did do better, it was only for a short time. While
a person with a higher IQ may do a new task better than a person with a lower IQ, the
more they practice the gap decreases and they perform at a similar level. Hard work and
experience can overcome the perceived advantage of a high IQ level. So while having a high
IQ doesn't hurt, it simply isn't the driving factor for why some people are more successful
than others.
6. Your Name Matters
One of the things that has the biggest influence in our life is something we have no control
over. Studies have shown that your name can play into your success, for better or for
worse.
One interesting theory is a phenomenon called "nominative determinism," which is that
your name can actually influence which way your life goes and which profession you choose.
Probably the best example of this is Usian Bolt. We tend to like things that remind us
of ourselves — for example, someone with the last name "Smith" is more likely to
marry another "Smith." Usian Bolt may have been attracted to running because it
reminded him of his name. People may have also wanted to encourage him because his name
made him sound fast. Subconsciously, when choosing a runner to train, who would the
coach be more inclined to choose — Usian Bolt or Steve Molasses? Your name can have
a profound impact on what you pursue and how people treat you.
Names can also imply social class, and teachers pick up on that. Some don't feel that children
with names that indicate a lower socioeconomic class are worth investing their time in. This
would start a lifelong problem where the child might not be able to get caught up, simply
because teachers, either consciously or subconsciously, didn't like their name. As people get older,
there have been studies that show bias against people with "ethnic" sounding names when
they apply for a job. Keep all that in mind if you decide to have kids.
5. Child Prodigies Don't Exist
In Geoffrey Colvin's book, Talent is Overrated, he claims that there really is no such thing
as a child prodigy. His argument is that no one is born innately talented, but that everyone
who is "great" practices and develops to that skill level.
When people claim that prodigies exist, they point to Mozart and Tiger Woods as examples.
However, those two were actually seasoned pros by the time they were famous. Mozart's
father was a music teacher who taught Mozart from the age of three, and then he trained
with other professionals. By the time he was 14 and wrote his first opera, he had been
studying music every day for nine years. He continued to study music until he was 17,
and he then worked as a pianist after completing school. So by the time he was 25 and wrote
his first masterpiece, he had been playing music daily for 22 years. As for the argument
that he wrote music as a child, none of that music was done in his handwriting. His father
was making a living off the fact that Mozart and his sister were prodigies, so there's
a very good chance his father wrote the music himself.
As for Tiger Woods, his father was a retired teacher and a golf fanatic that had an expert
handicap. He started training Tiger at seven months old by giving him a putter and making
him watch while he putted for hours and hours. As a child and into his teens Tiger was constantly
training, often with professionals. By the time that Tiger was 19 and a member of the
Walker Cup team, he had been practicing golf for 17 years. That isn't to say these two
men weren't tremendously talented and masters in their own discipline. It's just that
they trained for years and simply weren't born with innate talent.
4. The 10,000 Hours Theory
A Professor at the University of Colorado named Anders Ericsson decided to look at what
separates amateurs from professionals. In 1993, he released a paper that found on average
amateurs only got about 4000 hours of practice, but professionals had practiced for at least
10,000 hours.
Besides Tiger Woods and Mozart, another example of people who put in 10,000 hours were the
Beatles. Before they were famous, they played full time for two and a half years in Hamburg,
often for eight to 12 hours a day. It was at this time that they developed their signature
sound. Then there's Bill Gates, who went to a preparatory high school that was one
of the few in the country with a computer terminal. He spent more time on the computer
than any other student, and was even allowed to miss math class to work on it. It was during
that time and his years in university he earned his 10,000 hours.
While there's some debate over whether 10,000 hours is a rule or just a theory, many experts
agree that a significant number of people who are considered "great" have, on average,
10,000 hours of experience.
3. Deliberate Practice
If no one is born talented and you need 10,000 hours of practice, what's the most effective
way of using those hours? One theory is something sociologists call "deliberate practice."
Essentially, there are six elements. The practice needs to be meant to specifically improve
performance, and is even more effective if there's coaching. It needs to be repeatable,
and feedback on a regular basis is crucial. It also has to be demanding, either physically
or mentally. If you're doing all of this correctly, it shouldn't be a fun experience.
An example would be a basketball player who isn't very good at free throws spending
hours and hours just doing free throws while being coached. Not a great time no matter
how big of a basketball fan you are.
Deliberate practice is important because practicing specific activities over and over again will
get you more comfortable with that action. When you compete, you're simply using those
repetitive tasks in a different environment. The practice needs to be difficult, because
that's the only way someone can improve. If it's too easy, you never leave your comfort
zone and never grow through challenge.
As for the feedback portion, Steve Kerr, the former chief learning officer of Goldman Sachs,
said that practicing without feedback is like bowling with the pins behind a curtain. Without
feedback, you won't get better and you won't care. So while it is possible to be amazing
at something, you have 10,000 hours of hard work ahead of you.
2. The Third Grade is The Most Important Year of Your Life
Sociologist Robert K. Merton first coined the Matthew Effect in 1968. Simply put, it's
the idea that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The reason this is such a
big deal when it comes to success is that experts think the third grade is the most
pivotal year of someone's life (no pressure, huh?). In the fourth grade, the learning model
changes and it becomes incredibly important that children know how to read and learn independently.
Children who don't have these skills began to avoid reading and start to fall behind.
But to move on and do well in school you have to learn cumulatively, because school doesn't
get easier as the years go on. If a student falls behind early, the gap would just widen
over the following years. The kids that can read keep getting ahead, and the students
who had problems keep falling behind. Studies have shown that if someone had problems reading
in grade three they are four times more likely to drop out of high school.
1. You Have Amazing Potential
On average, the human mind can remember a sequence of seven to nine numbers. After that
it becomes incredibly hard to remember all the numbers in the right order. Researchers
at Carnegie Mellon University wanted to know if someone of average intelligence could break
that barrier with practice.
One test subject, who practiced two or three times a week for over two years, was able
to remember 82 numbers before deciding to stop. Another subject hit 102 numbers when
he stopped. It's not that they couldn't push further — the study just came to an
end. Both of these test subjects did better with practice than people who said they had
photographic memories.
Through these tests, researchers discovered what they called "the remarkable potential
of 'ordinary' adults and their amazing capacity for change with practice." Their
research showed that even "ordinary" people have the potential to be great by challenging
themselves. If you work hard, your goals can be more attainable than you thought.
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