Like his previous books (The Tipping Point, Blink & Outliers) Gladwell’s “David & Goliath – Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants” is a very good read.
Taking examples of people who have been the underdog for a variety of reasons including background, upbringing, death of parent, dyslexia, lack of basic skills he analyses how they have become “successful” against the odds. The odds it seems are frequently not what they should be.
He has a gift for synthesising his subject into a form that at once makes it understandable and appealing. As one of the greats of modern social science writing his storytelling is a joy. If I have a criticism it is that not all his reasoning is completely logical and I think that, as someone pointed out to me, in some of his studies success happens ‘despite’ rather than ‘because’ of the individual’s history.
None the less this is a worthwhile and thought provoking book. It has certainly left me trying to take the lessons into my business coaching with dentists – many of whom have to be Davids in a world of Corporate Goliaths.
So get some space turn the TV off, find an armchair, a cup of tea, a glass of wine or the tipple of your choice and get stuck in.
It’s available from Amazon here.
The Incisal Edge 