The publication of Malcolm Gladwell’s fifth book, David & Goliath, has left him perched atop the bestsellers list, delivering his sermon about how David, in the Blink of an eye, crossed a Tipping Point in his battle with Goliath and became a historical Outlier. The newest book can best be described as food for thought, curious examples illustrating peculiar situations rather than concrete analysis. While this tenet of Gladwell’s writing style engages people and broadens his audience, it also contributes to a work that is often muddled and occasionally memorable.
The Big Short
When people think they know more than they actually do, the potential for massive mistakes multiplies. Or, as outlined in The Big Short by Michael Lewis, there is a potential for absolutely astronomical errors. Following the mantra that “Greed is Good,” Wall Street banks create securities out of thin air and sell them to others who can neither calculate risk correctly nor price it appropriately. Some firms take positions against what they are selling to their customers as conflicts of interest abound. The oversight of ratings agencies and the United States Treasury is entirely absent. Incompetence and ignorance are mixed …
Why Do We Watch Documentaries?
According to their definition, documentaries seek to document and retell a story with video, interview, a narrator, and other facts. Some have brought an issue into the public eye (“An Inconvenient Truth”), some follow a character (“Hoop Dreams” and “Invisible City”), and others have a political viewpoint (“Bowling for Columbine”). Many lie somewhere in between. Paying five dollars at the Bloor Cinema does not ensure the unbiased truth; it is incumbent upon the viewer to decide what is real and who is telling the truth. Crude: The Real Price of Oil debates Chevron-Texaco’s (in partnership with the government of Ecuador) …
Why We Make Mistakes
Why We Make Mistakes provides anecdotal evidence about why humans repeatedly commit the same common errors. The books is written like a concise summary of Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink and Outliers books that imparts more information in less words. The book outlines countless ways that someone can make a bad decision, from drivers to surgeons. There is no universal remedy to reduce blunders but overconfidence and a failure to understand and make use of feedback were consistent among multiple missteps. The old adage repeated by Winston Churchill seems to be appropriate: “Those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to …
Malcolm Gladwell and Full-Court Pressure
A friend asked me to comment on this article, which was published by Malcolm Gladwell in the New Yorker. First of all, Vivek Ranadivé is incredibly self-centered and should reevaluate why he wants to coach twelve-year-old girls. This statement does not absolve his counterparts of their boorish, loutish, and short-tempered behaviour but he is coaching at the wrong level. Usually, that particular age group restricts full-court pressure because of the destructive effects on skill development. If he had limited practice time, Randivé should have focused on fundamental skills. Obviously full-court pressure would work; most teenagers make horrendous decisions under any …
“This Is Russia”
Dave King wrote King of Russia during the 2004-05 season when he coached Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Russian Super League. The diary contrasts the professional hockey systems in Russia and North America and records observations about daily life in Russia. In post-Communist Russia, the country is modernizing from Moscow outwards but it is not quite there. Despite all best intentions, transportation and distributions quandaries occasionally arise and corruption remains a problem. King encounters some bizarre situations where it is best not to ask questions because “this is Russia.” Unfortunately, King is also able to chronicle how the Russian economy is …
Outliers
Like Blink and The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell weaves a number of seemingly unrelated pieces of anecdotal evidence to create his latest work Outliers. The fundamental premise of the book is that conventional wisdom about success is flawed: factors publically praised are irrelevant and success or failure can be determined by a few core factors. Gladwell raises a salient point that many of athletic and academic cut-off dates favour those born early in the year. Basketball Ontario and other organizations have realized this and have implemented strategies to provide more coaching for those born late in the year and recognize …
Freakonomics
Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt interesting book for the guy who likes to generate “controversial” discussions at parties. So sumo wrestlers cheat, drug dealers live with their parents, and real estate agents receive a higher closing price when they sell a house that they own themselves. OK. Steven Levitt delivers his arguments in a light, easy to read, slightly esoteric format. The economics are sound. Basically the pretence is that every individual is interested in maximising their utility. OK. The most contentious chapter concerns Levitt’s belief that the decline of the crime rate in the late 1990s was caused by …