Yet another book on what causes brilliant successes - statistical outliers. But this one is good, in that it gives credit where its due (that's at least what I think) - opportunity and luck. Most books talk about just hard work/leadership (Good to great, etc.) or just luck (The halo effect). This one distills it to a point that it quantifies the amount of hard work needed - 10000 hours+ before you get "going", and it ties it up with opportunity and luck. (Why are all top Canadian hockey players born in first quarter of the year? What difference does family background have on test scores of first and fifth graders? What the good time to be born if you are in software, law, etc)? Though I think that quantifying the "right year to be born" for a particular profession is stretching things a bit too far, as it suffers from the survivor ship bias (Influence by Cialdini; The Black Swan by Nicholas Nassim Taleb), its still interesting.
Most of the Asian anecdotes refer to China, it would have been good if the author had also considered India, because some of the deductions would/may not be true in the Indian context (related to maths prowess, IQ, holidays, etc.) In doing the generalisation for Asian community, India is an important part that I think has been overlooked.
Overall its an interesting read, a very well told story and stresses on the right things for success. I dont think we have cracked this puzzle yet but its definitely better than the general glorification of skills, leadership, charisma, etc.
Definitely recommended.
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