They'll say they don't like his pseudo-scientific claims. They'll say he oversimplifies everything. They might even mention some "incidents" where they witnessed a deluge of "random" people who hated on this book... just a day after it's released.
But I believe those people have an agenda. An agenda where they decided they were going to hate this book before they even read it.
I'll explain.
When I buy a Malcolm Gladwell book, I don't expect in-depth analysis of hundreds of research studies. For that, I'll turn to someone like Eliot Aronson, Dan Ariely, or some new blood like Adam Grant. When I buy a Malcolm Gladwell book I expect to read compelling stories that bring a few pieces of key research to life. I also expect to be inspired by these stories. And in that regard, David and Goliath OVER DELIVERS.
#1 I loved the story of the impressionists
I won't ruin the story for you because I think you should buy the book and read it. But the short of it is this: When the impressionists were shunned from the high art society in France, they created their own art show. And their art became more popular. And today, their art is essentially priceless since the art they were showing in their 'offsite' art show totaled more than billion dollars worth of art.
What's funny about this story is the connection to Gladwell and today. Gladwell might get shunned by some nitpicking academics, and that's fine. He's not trying to break into the world of academia. He created his own world, and he's the guy selling millions of books.
This doesn't mean I hate academia though. I run a website called Social Triggers, and a podcast called Social Triggers Insider. My goal? To share the research from academia in language that layman can understand. So I dig academia.
That said, this story was inspiring because it reminds me (and I'm sure other people who read it) that it's not about being accepted by a system. Sometimes, you need to create your own system - and you'll be better off.
#2 We should all remember the inverted U curve
Again, Gladwell goes into this in more detail, but I loved this. It quite simply says, that just because you do more of something doesn't mean you're going to have more results. At some point, doing more can actually have the REVERSE effect. Doing more can actually make you do worse.
Even though he didn't use this analogy, I think about going to the gym. When you go to the gym once a week, you get poor results. Go twice, and better results. Go three, and maybe better results. But if you go 7 times a week, twice a day, you risk 'overtraining' and when you overtrain you actually risk getting worse results.
Based on those two stories alone, I believe this book is worth the read.
Now back to the naysayers...
The naysayers pick his books up and say it's too simple. And you know what? Just the other day, Gladwell said it best: "If my books appear oversimplified, then you shouldn't read them"
Why is that best?
Because if you think his books are too oversimplified, you shouldn't read them. You're NOT the audience.
He's not writing a book to be consumed by 1,500 academics. He's writing a book to inspire millions of people.
And that's why I have to say, Malcolm Gladwell did it again. Check the book out.
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