At the airport, I picked this book among a sea of other options. The cover was simple, unlike the others surrounding it. It bore a plain white background with a single impression in the middle, presumably from the piercing of a knife or similar weapon. In a black, regal font read the words "David and Goliath". Having loved the story since childhood, Gladwell's promise to deliver insight on "underdogs, misfits, and the art of battling giants" lured me in from the beginning. At just over 300 pages, it was an easy read during my layover.
Overall Rating: 6.5/10
Highlights:
Critique:
Favorite Quotes:
Overall Rating: 6.5/10
Highlights:
- Successful underdog strategies are unconventional and difficult to execute. However, being the underdog gives you the freedom to try things others wouldn't dream of doing.
- Money makes things easier until a certain point, after which it stops making much of a difference. Bigger, stronger, richer does not always mean better. Struggling can have its own advantages.
- Sometimes it's okay to be the big fish in the little pond. Do not feel obligated to compete on the large scale where your potential may not be maximized and you may get lost in the crowd. Large ponds can be a source of unnecessary competition, whereas small ponds allow us to be creative, happy, and fulfilled. Gladwell presents intriguing data on number of STEM degrees, research publications, and other measures of performance at various academic institutions to elaborate on the Big Fish-Little Pond Theory.
- Extra effort pays off; this is the Theory of Desirable Difficulty. When you are required to work harder for whatever you come across, you think more deeply about it, appreciate it more, and understand it better.
- Being the underdog makes you comfortable with failure and puts you in a position to take more risks. Gladwell gives the example of Goldman Sachs president, Gary Cohn.
- Things are not always as they seem. We are often a victim of our own perceptive bias and the observation filters that others want us to experience.
- Even the best-intentioned power has its limits. Understand the limitations of advantages.
Critique:
- Gladwell failed to recognize the moral struggle underdogs often face; he does not mention the importance of integrity in the face of unfair challenges.
- The author's style is hit or miss. Most of the time it creates an enticing story for the reader, other times it comes off as scattered and tangential. This is especially true for his scientific evidence and historical examples; at times, they were not really relevant.
- The first two hundred pages were much more insightful and interesting than the last one hundred, in my opinion.
Favorite Quotes:
- "I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corninthians 12:7-10)
- “Giants are not what we think they are. The same qualities that appear to give them strength are often the sources of great weakness.”
- “They were not really afraid. They were just afraid of being afraid.”