I just finished Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers, The Story of Success. I found it a facinating read. If you have not yet read his book, or any of his others, I strongly suggest it. The premise of Outliers discusses the contributing factors, opportunities and cultural legacies that help shape the outcomes of individuals whom we recognized as highly successful.
One of the most enlightening discussions in the book provides perhaps a new perspective as to why people of Asian decent traditionally outperform people of Western cultures in math. We often believe that academic achievement is attributed to IQ and intellect, yet Gladwell’s explanation is more basic. It may very well relate to how Asians count and the character length of the actual numeric characters allowing them to retain more information in a smaller period of time. Again, I found the author’s insight facinating.
Success is not solely a factor of intellect. At a certain point, cultural influences/rules and situational circumstances contribute more to why an individual or individuals are successful. Even more at the core of real success are the long hours of dedicated hard work.
I began thinking about how this all relates to the nature of real estate, both as a professional as well as the profession itself.
No doubt, we are currently experiencing a significant confluence of events both culturally and economically. The theory that real estate was a fairly sure bet, rarely if ever losing value has been more than proven wrong. Business models which leverage technology are not offering transformational change in how value is created in the real estate transaction.
Why did Rockerfeller become wealthy? Gladwell surmizes that he became wealthy due primarily to his time of birth, coupled with America’s dynamic economic transformation. Along with his hard work, his fate collided with enormous opportunity. It seems Bill Gates too collided with good timing – he came of age during the era of the birth of the personal computer.
It takes more than just smarts to make it to the top.
I sense we are again at a cross roads of transformational change, both culturally and economically today with even farther reaching global implications. This poses and interesting question – with all things being equal, who among us will capture the opportunities?
What is the key to ensuring success as we move through these tumultuous times? Hard work, no doubt. A lot of really hard work. Gladwell quotes a Chinese proverb:
No one who can rise before dawn three hundred sixty days a year fails to make his family rich
However, not all who work hard necessarily gain financial success. Success isn’t just measured in monetary means, but also in terms of achieving a meaningful existence. Capitalizing on the right opportunities is critical to the mix as well. Bill Gates has aptly stated that he was lucky. Smarts, hard work and identifying the right opportunities didn’t hurt either.
Okay, so my question is this, are you an innie or an outie? You’ve got the brains and the grit, but are you focusing on the right opportunities? At a basic level, is taking a listing at the wrong price capturing the right opportunity?
I think not.
From a technology perspective, does building a business model which generates revenue from content unrelated to the business in which the technology solution serves make sense? How can providing real knowledge for free be sustainable?
Shouldn’t new business models in real estate leverage the real red meat and value of the business process? I believe consumers have been led to believe that the process of buying and selling real estate should be cheap. What is the value of expertise and knowledge?
Successful technology solutions must tie their revenue to the content – the real knowledge – that relates to the business problem they are trying to solve in order for there to be sustainable, transformational change.
Who will seize the opportunity?
Keith Davis says:
I heard an NPR story with a different take on Asian and Math strength. The theory I heard was that in Asian cultures where rice farming was the financial support for many families, there is no career upon whose success is so determined by time and commitment to excellence. Put in time and your rice crop does better, almost every time.
With math, unlike some of the “creative” educational pursuits, success can be garnered by great time commitments. If you are willing to learn every theorem, you can do well in math. So the same cultural needs for rice farming are consistent with math, far more than literature or languages.
So, in terms of our business, I think one of the important items is to recognize our own competency and build on that. Technology is not going to be the ONLY answer, although it is going to have to be part of every solution (that is successful). Value will be created in your own strengths.
February 4, 2009 — 6:39 am
Thomas Hall says:
Keith, thanks for your comments. I did not do my book review justice. Gladwell explained the cultural legacy of the rice patty in his book as well, hence my reference to the Chinese proverb I quoted in my piece.
Again, the keys to success have more to do with where we’re from (our heritage/culture) than we really understand.
I agree with your point regarding our competencies. The skills and expertise is what generates value.
February 4, 2009 — 3:00 pm
Joe says:
Thomas, I got back last night from my son’s high school basketball game and read your blog entry. I started a reply but then I simply got too tired and realized what I was writing didn’t make sense! 🙂 I thought about your article today. Particularly, this statement:
I applied this to my own life. I had a crappy childhood and as a result of that influence I’m focused on being a great father and husband. So far so good, but still a work in progress. I also thought about how "cultural influences/rules" play out in my children’s life,- the influence of having ME as a father. I take my son’s basketball game last night as an example. In my son’s division in Washington state he is about 6th in the state for scoring, and leads the state for rebounds. Last night’s game was not his best as he missed some opportunities he should have made, but I was incredibly proud of him as he worked harder last night than any other game this season. I’m about the character and motives behind a person, rather than the "points" a person scores. I think my son, and all five of my kids will go into life with the influence of a father who didn’t have an influence.
I wonder if there will be any "Bill Gates" opportunities in my kid’s lives!
Thomas, I’m disappointed I’m only the 3rd comment in this blog entry, as your post is about as good as it gets. Keep up the good work.
February 4, 2009 — 9:27 pm
Thomas Hall says:
Joe – your comment really struck an emotional chord with me, thank you for sharing your experience as a father. Six years ago I went through a very difficult divorce and have been physically separated from my three great kids who live with their Mom outside of Detroit. I honestly struggle with my physical separation from them daily, however, when I am not physically there, I try to be there emotionally. Perhaps it is my own rationalization, but I know it is not an ideal situation, but our familial circumstances may influence them in a positive way. I at least prefer not to focus on the negative impact by being present in their lives – whether it be on the phone, a weekend trip, text messages or playing Pathwords on Facebook with my kids.
Part of life, IMO is to deal with what we’re dealt with both by nature and by nuture (or lack there of). Both mold us.
Thanks again for your comments – greatly, greatly appreciated.
February 5, 2009 — 11:30 am
Joe says:
Thanks Thomas for the reply. My heart goes out to ya as I’m certain your situation is a tough one. 😉
February 5, 2009 — 6:24 pm
Susan says:
Sounds like a very interesting book and I really enjoyed reading this blog…very well written and gets the mind churning. I believe there are many circumstances and factors that align themselves at times contributing to a person’s success. This includes timing and seizing the opportunity and having the work ethic, persistence and tenacity to see something thru and not get discouraged. Also taking risks. Bill Gates is actually a very interesting success story.
February 6, 2009 — 9:47 pm