Malcolm Gladwell | Outliers: The Story of Success

A video of Malcolm Gladwell's talk at the recent AIGA Gain Conference. (Dear AIGA, please add the 'embedd video' functionality to your videos. Yes?)

Only Malcolm Gladwell could bring Fleetwood Mac into the design discussion and make wonderful sense. In his enlightening talk about innovation and misconceptions about what it takes to become a success, Gladwell uses this unlikely metaphor for creative synthesis in an entertaining entrée into the concepts of his forthcoming book, Outliers. Genius and creativity don’t necessarily spring forth unbidden, he says; they require time and support to experiment, to try and even fail. During this time of economic crisis and eventual renewal, he hopes that the design community will be able to “rediscover the true roots of creativity and innovation.”

(via whatmademelook)

Comments

[Dave]

I love Malcolm Gladwelll; he's so off-topic and yet so on point. His TED talk from a few years ago is still one of my favorites: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/malcolm_gladwell_on_spaghetti_sauce.html

[ChrisM70]

I love listening to people like Malcolm Gladwell. It's great to hear people who you can tell are passionately curious.
What if? How come? Why?

If you're like me and like this attitude, you might also enjoy WNYC's podcast of Radio Lab, which just started its new season this week!

wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/

[BB]

He's totally on my wishlist of 10 People I'd Invite To a Dinner Party. I'd put him right next to George Clooney.

[Sheri L Koetting]

Thanks for posting this. I went to the Gain Conference and saw this live. Personally it was the only thing worth writing about and yet made the entire conference worth it. Suddenly I felt a bit better about not achieving my break through moment in life yet. Just a little more practice....

[joanna goddard]

i love malcolm gladwell's books although the new one got slammed in the Times.

[Jay Goldman]

Malcolm gave a great talk on Outliers in conversation with Dean Roger Martin of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. I took some fairly extensive notes that I thought you and your readers might find useful:

http://jaygoldman.com/2008/12/02/malcolm-gladwell-talks-about-outliers-at-rotman-school-of-management/

Enjoy!