An Essay On Outliers Malcolm Gladwell

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Are the various millionaires from the world truly self-made men or is their success a result of a more complex outside source- the environment? In the book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell analyzes how people achieve success. He stresses the belief that success is obtained by other factors beyond personal characteristics like IQ, work ethic, talent and ambition. To truly understand success, one must go deeper and look at the “hidden” reasons, such as birthdates, hours put in, cultural background and timing. Individuals credit their own success on their merit, but it’s decided on other factors outside their control.

Most people people expect the current United States President and chairmen of The Trump Organization, Donald Trump, to be a self-made …show more content…

In reality, Trump inherited The Trump Organization from his father and did not work elsewhere besides the company. He was raised well off and entitled to inherit money from his father. Due to the successful company his father built, Trump didn’t need to do much. Donald Trump, like the successful partner of Skadden, Arps., Joe Flom, owe their success to their environment. Joe Flom was poor as a child, raised by immigrant garment workers during the depression. Due to discrimination against Jews, when Jewish lawyers looked for jobs during “hiring season” they were rejected due to their antecedents and were pushed to smaller companies. Flom was given the work other firms did not want and mainly worked with proxy fights and litigation. Flom mastered his craft over the course of 10,000 hours and his experience was sought after during the 1970s and 1980s when litigation and hostile takeovers -what old-line law firms discarded- became a high demand skill to have. Flom’s success was already predetermined as a result of the generation he was born in was considerably smaller than the generation before or after it. Being the son of Jewish workers also affected Flom’s success. A lot of Eastern European Jews who immigrated to New York had previously had an occupational skill and had mastered and polished their trade. Many of these Jews established themselves in the rising garment industry and the children who had parents in this industry saw the development of success from hard work. This was an advantage equivalent to having wealthy parents - like Donald Trump. Flom’s success was shaped by the opportunities given to him from his cultural background, and

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