Quality of the Successful People In 'Outliers' By Malcolm Gladwell

In the general view today, a majority of people have come to think that success is within the personality and character of the individual. Contrary to this popular belief, Malcolm Gladwell examines the quality of the successful people in his book, Outliers- The Story of Success and the driving reasons behind it was why some people are significantly more successful than others. An outlier is someone who does something differently. According to Gladwell, a true outlier is someone who has a combination of different factors, practical intelligence and hard work. According to Gladwell’s view of success, Aung San Suu Kyi, State Counsellor of Myanmar, a winner of the 1991 Nobel Prize for Peace, has been crossed over the Threshold limits by passing the house arrest in 1989, her life took a dramatic turn returning back to Myanmar and her political party, National League for Democracy, won more than 80% of the parliamentary seats, however the military government ignored the outcome. She then passed all those thresholds and finally became the State Counsellor of Myanmar in 2016.

Gladwell states how an individual’s development is based on the environment they are brought up in rather than the gene. In his Threshold Effect, there is a limit to pass through and once an individual passes through, other kinds of intelligence matter when it comes to success as it is not always based on talents and good fortune. Similarly, Aung San Suu Kyi was born on June 19, 1945, in Yangon, Myanmar. She was a daughter of formal prime minister of British Burma, Aung San and Burmese Ambassador, Khin Kyi. Being raised in the educated family, she was able to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford. Having a great I.Q is a good opportunity to have, however success is a combination of social, biological, personal and environmental factors. Her secret of winning the first ever Nobel prize from Burma was because she had all the supplies that she needed throughout her life.

She then returned to Myanmar in 1988 and a dramatic change in her life happened. She soon began speaking out publicly against the military government in Myanmar and her main focusses were the issues of democracy and the human rights.The military government did not like her to take over the power and she was placed under house arrest in 1989 and cut off all the communication with the outside world. They would free her if she leaves the country, however she refused to leave. While she was prisoned, she spent time reading politics, practiced her Japanese and French skills. She spent 15 years of her life in house arrest and she was released in 2010. Based on all these ideas, it is obvious that success and intelligence are not completely related. Her academic qualifications has proven enough that she is a very intelligence woman. “The relationship between success and I.Q. works only up to a point,” and it is very applicable in her life and “intelligence has a threshold.” She had that kind of intelligence and she made her life out of the house arrest. However, “the presence of one doesn’t imply the presence of the other. In Gladwell’s book, he specifically explores the success factors such as practice intelligence and social savvy, natural growth and natural advantage.

According to Gladwell, she had enough practical intelligence, “the particular skill that allows you to talk your way out of a murder rap,” and which helps her get when she wants she knows how, when and what to say to whom to get what she wants. She could pass the threshold as she took the advantage of clear opportunities for practice, self-discipline, and self-improvement. She was able to translate her intelligence into success just like Robert Oppenheimer.

Another factor that makes her successful is her social savvy, “

Social savvy is knowledge. Its a set of skills that have to be learned. It has to come from somewhere, and the place where we seem to get these kinds of attitudes and skills is from our families.” Her party won the majority of parliament seats in the election, nonetheless it was ignored by the military government. Soon after 2012, Suu Kyi and her party rejoined the political process while the government embarked on a process of reform. Subsequently, in 2016, her party secured the majority of seats in parliament. She then created the position of state counsellor. She has made through the state counsellor after being arrested for 15 years. Enormous among of people from Myanmar her supporting her.

She has learned how to survive and passed through the social savvy, the knowledge that has to be learned throughout her life. According to Gladwell, this kind of knowledge is passed down by the family and she might have gotten it from her father, Aung San, the 5th Premier of the British Crown Colony of Burma. “The sense of entitlement that she has been taught is an attitude perfectly suited to succeeding in the modern world.” She obtained a substantial amount of knowledge from her educated parents which has brought her thus far and became successful. She knew the concepts of knowledge, practice, and she has certain types of persistence to meet the threshold success. She was also able to overcome all the obstacles to achieve success. According to Gladwell, she had the opportunity to acquitter the necessary skills which are vital important in being successful.