...mediocre people find their way into positions of authority...because when it comes to even the most important positions, our selection decisions are a good deal less rational than we think.
Malcolm GladwellWhat is learned out of hard work and trial is inevitably more powerful than what is learned easily.
Malcolm GladwellJenny Simpson loses her shoe in the women's fifteen hundred, with a lap and a half to go, destroying her chances to repeat as world champion, and she gives the most gracious interview afterward about how she's had a wonderful career already. Great for Jenny Simpson. Bad for the sport! We need drama!
Malcolm GladwellPractice isn't the thing you do once you're good. It's the thing you do that makes you good.
Malcolm GladwellA study at the University of Utah found that if you ask someone why he is friendly with someone else, heโll say it is because he and his friend share similar attitudes. But if you actually quiz the two of them on their attitudes, youโll find out that what they actually share is similar activities. Weโre friends with the people we do things with, as much as we are with the people we resemble. We donโt seek out friends, in other words. We associate with the people who occupy the same small, physical spaces that we do.
Malcolm Gladwell