Gladwell vs. Dweck

In the first year seminar justice system, the students are represented by two separate, yet equally importanat books, Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, and Mindset by Carol Dweck. These are their stories...

Okay so the whole cheezy rip off of the Law & Order opening sounded better in my head, but it gets the point across. Like the police and attorneys, these two books function by themselves with individual purposes, but at the same time, when put together, it makes life better for everyone, (except for the criminals and people who have to pay the lawyers ridiculous amounts of money). Both books deal with life, and in a way how to make life better, they both have parts that support each other, but also parts that oppose each other.

First, the similarities. Both books talk about success and how to grow into a successful person. Both of them do this by analyzing countless anecdotes, ranging from young hockey players in Canada, to the Boston Red Sox, to a young girl who's life turns upside down when she is admitted into the KIPP Academy. They both also address possible failures too. Gladwell discusses Christopher Langan (pg 69) who had all the potential in the world, but just didn't have the resources to take advantage of it. Dweck talks about chef Bernard Loiseau (pg 37) who lost it all after one bad review, including his life.

Both authors also emphasize ways to achieve this success. Gladwell outlines the 10,000 hour rule (pg 35) where someone must work 10,000 hours to fully master their craft, for in\stance, the Beatles, playing countless shows in Hamburg before making it big. (pg 47) Dweck focuses on the concept of the growth mindset, if you're always looking to achieve more, and to work more, eventually you will grow. For instance Jim Marshall (pg 33) who returned a fumble 66 yards for a touchdown... the wrong way. He used it to his advantage though and it allowed him to grow and he played a ridiculous second half.

There are differences though. To Gladwell, the key to life is success, you're nobody if you don't succeed in life. Dweck on the other hand emphasizes growth, which can lead to success as well, but that's just something extra. Gladwell believes that success is tied to what resources you have and how you utilize them, while Dweck focuses on using the success (or lackthereof) as a way to push yourself to grow even more. In Gladwell's eyes, Marita could have had the biggest growth mindest in the world, but needed KIPP academy to take advantage at all and have a chance to get out of poverty. (pg 250) Dweck looks at crybaby/Tennis player John McEnroe, (pg. 31) and showed how he was trapped in a fixed mindset, had he been in a growth mindset, he could've been one of the legendary greats of the game.

The two books are very connected, they both present great ideas. I fell like if you could take the best parts of each book and combine them together you would end up with the ultimate key/guide to success. They both present the same ideas, just with their own opinions mixed in. Which, isn't a bad thing, because otherwise it'd be two of the same book, and who'd really want to read it twice?