Goliath Was Bigger But The Odds Makers Favored David

         “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree,                                                         it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”   Albert Einstein

HOT READS FOR THE PRACTITIONER  

Title: Heart-warming Stories of How the Good Guys Can Beat the Odds

Competencies: entrepreneurial leadership, achievement orientation, self-development, managing self, career path preference, critical thinking skills, tenacity/perseverance

Who benefits: anyone facing some big obstacles in life

Consultant Usage: great stories for use with clients

What’s it about? Malcolm Gladwell is a extraordinary storyteller. If you consider yourself a business person, internal or external, and can learn from great stories, then I highly recommend you get your hands on this new, provocative, easy-to-read book. It will delight you. It will excite you. It might even motivate you.

From his earlier books like Outliers, Blink, and The Tipping Point we know he is a non-conventional thinker. He challenges what almost everyone else currently believes. In the just released David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, he challenges the rational thinking that Big beats Small. His thesis, in short, is that the “act of facing overwhelming odds produces greatness and beauty”. He doesn’t think we really understand Giants. Similar to the sign in the car mirror (may be closer), objects may not be what they appear to be. And that creates opportunity.

His opening chapter on the “real” story of David and Goliath is a gem and it is the metaphor for all else in the book. To read the story, and buy into his storytelling (plausible), the odds makers in Vegas would have made David the betting favorite. David was the entrepreneur who understood why Goliath had no chance! At the end of the chapter you kind of feel sorry for poor old Goliath. You end up feeling that the Marketing Department for earlier versions of this story got it all wrong.

Some of his stories are inconclusive or of debatable conclusions. But who cares? He tells the stories with such captivating and compelling verve.

One thing you will learn is to understand the U-shaped curve and how understanding the “U” can often shatter illusions or long standing beliefs. That in itself is an important reason to read the book.

But in the end, none of the details really matter. The real purpose, the real substance of the book is in getting each of us to look at our world differently. If you run into a wall, the “correct” answer is How Can I Climb It? What did Frank sing about 60 years ago (paraphrased): “Obstacles, I’ve met a few … and I did it my way.”

If I were to summarize Gladwell’s book in a short paragraph – and why you might consider reading it – is this: The books is about the disadvantages of advantages and the advantages of disadvantage. If you get that, this book is for you. If you don’t get it, this book is for you.

Who would most benefit from reading this book? Entrepreneurs and Intrapreneurs looking for encouragement and inspiration. Thinkers who enjoy unconventional observations and counterintuitive ideas. Students (of any age) who are looking career choices and career decisions. Whoever you are, while the book is easy enough to read in one or two sittings and will constantly amuse and delight you, you will still have work to do. This book only works if you do. You need to constantly ask yourself “What does this have to do with me?” “What can I learn from these stories?” He occasionally prompts you, but the real work and the real benefit come from what you do. There is a lot to learn from this book. But you end up being the teacher.

Catch you later.

Bill Bradley

Bill Bradley (mostly) retired after 35 years in organizational consulting, training and management development. During those years he worked internally with seven organizations and trained and consulted externally with more than 90 large and small businesses, government agencies, hospitals and schools.