Malcolm Gladwell is a hack with a knack for taking the ordinary and making it extraordinary.
Born in 1963, Gladwell, the son of a British maths teacher and Jamaican-born psychologist, was raised in rural Canada.
On graduating from the University of Toronto with a degree in history, the author of pop sociology classic Tipping Point failed to secure a job in advertising, his first-choice career, and so embarked on his second choice, a career in journalism.
A stint at the American Spectator was followed by a position as staff writer at the Washington Post, where he remained for 10 years, before joining the New Yorker, where his journey towards authorial stardom began.
Questioning axioms
Originally a business journalist, Gladwell made his name by making the mundane intriguing and observing uncanny trends few others would notice, while fewer still would grasp their surprising implications.
His style is akin to that a magician: he pulls the rabbit out the socioeconomic hat, by being consistent in his application of intellectual rigour, even questioning axioms, and often subverting the presumed outcome.
Gladwell takes the impenetrable material of academic studies and research journals and weaves it into a comprehensible narrative that packs a subversive punch with the layman
His conclusions can have far-reaching implications for society, such as his revelation in the 2008 book Outliers that professional hockey players in the US tend to be born in the first few months of the year. This, he surmises, is because all players in a certain age group are streamed ostensibly because of ability, but in truth, those deemed inferior are often simply younger, and simply farther behind in physical and mental development.
Once condemned to practice and play at a poor standard with less dedicated coaching, these differences in ability, initially related purely to differences in age, become entrenched and widened.
Other times his observations are quirkier, such as when he asks why there are so many types of mustard, but only one brand of Ketchup, and wonders what we could learn about spaghetti sauce.
Gladwell takes the impenetrable material of academic studies and research journals and weaves it into a comprehensible narrative that packs a subversive punch with the layman.
What’s more, his work has found an audience in the business world too. Aspiring entrepreneurs and veteran executives alike are inspired by his work, and he schools some of the world’s largest corporations in the Gladwellian train of thought.
Gladwell, who is reported to have earned several million dollars from his book deals and around $50k for each public speaking event, was listed in the top 100 Scientists and Thinkers by Time magazine.
His first book, Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, spent eight years in the bestsellers list, and was reported to have earned him a million-dollar advance when it was serialised in the New Yorker.
Then came Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, in 2005, which explored the human mind’s propensity to make split-second decisions based on intuition and emulated its predecessor’s success.
Now with an army of avid fans, Gladwell is guaranteed huge sales every time he publishes, and it’s no surprise that his latest thesis, Outliers, is also flying off the shelves.
By discerning almost imperceptible and seemingly innocuous patterns and explaining how they have a surprisingly profound effect on our lives and destinies, Gladwell has found an audience beyond the ‘self-improver’ archetype, captivating business executives, marketers and the proverbial man on the street, all of whom have become disciples to his unorthodox, convention-breaking observations.
Gladwell’s counterintuitive approach to the mundane minutiae of everyday life has been a precursor for other unconventional socioeconomic thinkers to publish erudite theses which then sell huge to the masses in huge quantities, like Freakanomics and Nudge.
‘Gladwellian’ is fast becoming s byword for unconventional socioeconomic thinking, and few other canons excite students of sociology, business leaders and simply the intellectually curious more than that of Malcolm Gladwell right now.