On the flip side - those whose advantages aren’t so advantageous after all - include students who are not at the top of their Ivy League classes, teachers of extremely small classes and very wealthy parents. According to him, they all managed to turn disadvantages into advantages. In “David and Goliath,” Gladwell links people who are dyslexic with a hero of the civil rights movement and the citizens of London during the blitz. He has delved into the literature he has interviewed lots of people - scientists, economists, deep thinkers and others who wind up in the book - and he has divined meaning and found counterintuitive connections that would otherwise elude the rest of us. That’s the whole point of a Malcolm Gladwell book.

The “we” of course does not include Gladwell. It means that we underestimate how much freedom there can be in what looks like a disadvantage.” It means that we misread battles between underdogs and giants. And what happens as a result? It means that we make mistakes. Or, as Gladwell puts it: “We have a definition in our heads of what an advantage is - and the definition isn’t right. And “David and Goliath”? It’s about the advantages of disadvantages - and the disadvantages of seeming advantages. Before that, “Blink” proposed that one’s first impression turns out to be right surprisingly often - contrary to the belief many of “us” hold. His book “Outliers” was about (among other things) how success requires ingredients that are different from ones “we” normally assume - to wit, talent counts for far less than hard work, luck and background. To judge by “David and Goliath,” Malcolm Gladwell’s favorite word is “we.” In fact, it’s been his favorite word since his first book, “The Tipping Point,” launched his enormously successful career writing about how the world doesn’t necessarily work the way “we” think it does.

Blink gladwell review