From Chapter 10 “Optimism/Enthusiasm” in Ingredients of Outliers. I imagine that, at one time or another, you’ve read or heard various definitions comparing optimism and pessimism. Perhaps the oldest and most familiar one involves a glass of water (or other beverage), which the optimist describes as half-full, and the pessimist as half-empty.Well, I recently heard of a young boy who turned that comparison upside down. After drinking half of his glass of milk, he set it down and announced: “I’m an optimist. My glass is half-empty.” Told that his view was pessimistic, he replied: … [Read more...]
Pick Yourself Up
From Chapter 2 "Fail Fast: The Gift of Failure" in Ingredients of Outliers The Immigrant's Son On May 10, 1899, Frederick Austerlitz, the son of Austrian immigrants, was born in Omaha, Nebraska. As children, Frederick and his sister Adele began singing and dancing in vaudeville shows and continued to do so for many years. A vaudeville show featured a variety of entertainers—including singers, dancers, comedians, ventriloquists, jugglers, magicians, and others—who would appear on stage in rapid-fire succession during shows lasting up to twelve hours. Many successful stage and … [Read more...]
Learning from Failure
From Chapter 2 "Fail Fast: The Gift of Failure" in Ingredients of Outliers Going into Business[es] With my newly discovered burst of self-confidence, I decided to launch my business career. But where to start? I’d once entertained thoughts of owning a restaurant. I knew nothing about restaurant operations, so I thought it would be less risky to start out with hot dog stands. I bought five of them, and in the winter in Phoenix, Arizona, they did really well—in the summer, however, not so much. The hot dog stands were a huge failure—but that didn’t stop me. Since then I’ve started, or … [Read more...]
The Gift of Failure
From Chapter 2 "Fail Fast: The Gift of Failure" in Ingredients of Outliers An Early Start My gift of failure started early. As noted previously, despite being tall and coming from a family that encouraged sports, I never really excelled at anything where coordination, speed, or strength mattered, thus relegating me to events like curling and badminton. My sister, however, was a very competitive swimmer, as well as a straight “A” student. Fortunately I was adopted, so I could genuinely claim some form of genetic malady (I still do). In fact, genetics haunt me to this day. A few years … [Read more...]