Why Success Is More Circumstantial Than Personal
In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell posits alternative theories for how successful people got to where they are.

(Photo: David Paul Morris/Getty Images)

Bill Gates
As a kid growing up in Seattle in the late sixties and seventies, Gates had extensive access to a state-of-the-art computer lab, the likes of which very few in his generation would know anything about until years later.

(Photo: Michael Ochs Archive/Getty Images)

The Beatles
In the early years, when they took up residency in the clubs of Hamburg, Germany, they had to play very long sets, in a wide variety of styles, forcing them to be creative and excel at experimenting.

(Photo: Michael Prince/Corbis)

Chinese Students
They work much harder at their studies and exhibit greater patience in problem-solving than their American counterparts thanks to their cultural legacy of long days toiling in rice paddies.

(Photo: Brad Wilson/Getty Images)

Youth Hockey Players
Kids born in the early months of a year are put in the same league as kids born later in the year, a slight edge in physical maturity that gets compounded over the years into a decisive advantage in skill.

Related:

• Archive: “Features”
• Articles by Jason Zengerle
• Table of Contents: Nov 17, 2008 issue of New York | Subscribe!