Malcolm Gladwell is a historian and journalist. A The New Yorker staff writer since 1996, he was born in England, but moved to Canada with his Family when he was six, and lived there until going to College in Washington. His mother is a psychotherapist and his father a mathematician. All his books were New York Times Bestsellers and I will talk about them here at Hallo Hello starting with my favorite Outliers: The Story of Success.

Outliers talks about successful people, not from the steady point of view of their individualities, but analyzing the factors and/or people that contributed to their success in various areas like sports, aviation, law, etc. Why are Asian schoolchildren so good at math? Why are the majority of professional hockey and soccer players born in January? Which factors contribute to these particularities? He also shows us how different cultures foster different talents and why.

This is not a self-help guide, it is instead a study on what makes certain individuals and cultures stand out. Its conclusions are surprising and make us think. I adopted many concepts discussed in Outliers in the way I raise my girls, like the ten thousand hour rule, with great results.

It’s worth your time!