[review] OUTLIERS by Malcolm Gladwell

The first book of Gladwell's which I have read. Liked the style of writing, with reasons and experiment details to back up his views. Due to the style of writing, I found myself agreeing to what he wrote, a little too easily. The analytic side of my mind did not like that.

Interesting read nonetheless. It did convinced me that successful people are not the outliers or rare talents that they are portrayed to be. Rather they are average people who are able to identify opportunities, take action, and work damn hard.

Major takeaways from this book were:
> the 10,000 hours rule (work damn hard rule, and the importance of passion)
> effect of culture
> concept of power distance

I look forward to reading other books from Gladwell.

Big Picture Easy, Execution Messy

It’s easy to see the big picture, really. Read some relevant books, read some articles posted online, read some forum reviews or experience sharing by people in the industry. And almost everyone can become a consultant. Just look at the big picture, spot the obvious gaps, and…yak. Talk is cheap. Execution is what brings in the money. But Execution is messy. There are legacy issues. There are stubborn mindsets. There are cemented SOPs. There are undecipherable data. What makes you special today is the ability to convert your big picture, empty talk into executable actions that bring the results you talk about. But few can do that. Can I?

how 2021 started

I ended 2020 with "The Midnight Library", a fiction book about a girl in despair who finds herself in a library filled with infinite possibilities to how her life could be, after an attempted suicide. The plot was predictable, but the journey was memorable. A good reminder that we already have everything we need to become who we want to be. We just need to commit to the goal and have the guts to take on the process. I started 2021 with the docu-film, "Dick Johnson is dead" (available on Netflix), a lighthearted take on the impact of dementia and pending death. "He's a psychiatrist. I'm a cameraperson. I suggested we make a movie about him dying. He said yes." - Kristen Johnson Kirsten Johnson comes up with comical ways her dad would die, in an attempt to help them and their loved ones cope with his pending death. It was funny, intimate and surprisingly intimate. "She kills me. Multiple times. And I come back to life. I...

‘Free’

Should ‘Free’ consumers be treated as customers? If you have been in the business scene / entrepreneur scene for some time, you’d have noticed a common advice from the veterans. “Don’t give your products/services away for free”; simply because ‘free’ customers are the most difficult to deal with. I’ve had the same experience myself. I think this stems from 2 issues; Internal ‘Struggle’ When you give your time/product/service for free, there’ll always be a internal debate of “how much time/effort should I be spending on this project”. This struggle will always be present, whether conscious or not. I find myself holding back for free projects at time, especially when coupled with the 2nd issue. (generally) Demands from the free consumer It could be a general bias that stems from the previous point. But I’ve found that free consumers tend to ask for more. Or try to get more than what was originally promised. Since its all ‘free’, the additional requests cost nothing to th...

the subtle lessons

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