He Said, She Said

Many connections can be drawn between Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell, and Mindset, by Carol Dweck. Each book discusses success and the ways in which people go about achieving it. Gladwell says that success, while requiring effort, is also highly dependent on a certain set of circumstances (Gladwell, 2008). Dweck, on the other hand, agrees that succes requires effort, but feels that it is also a result of a person's mindset (Dweck, 2006). Both authors agree that a person must work hard to be successful, but they disagree on one major point. Where Gladwell sees success as being dependent on outside forces, Dweck sees success as being dependent on internal ideas.
Gladwell spends the entirety of his book discussing a bunch of unique circumstances that have helped people become successful. He refers to time of birth in the year, year of birth, and other peculiar situations (Gladwell, 2008). He goes into detail about how all of these people had to work a great deal to achieve the level of success they have, but he also provides a set of coincidental circumstances that helped each person. This differs greatly from Dweck's way of thinking.
Carol Dweck also wrote a book about success but focused more on a person's mindset. Dweck says that people can have a fixed or growth mindset, and those with the fixed mindset are much less likely to be truly successful (Dweck, 2006). She provides a multitude of real world examples that most ordinary people can relate to. This is another way in which her book differs from Gladwell's. Gladwell focuses on billionaires and professional athletes while Dweck focuses on the "average joe's." Dweck does agree with Gladwell regarding the amount of effort required for success. While Gladwell gives a number,10,000 hours, Dweck simply says that people cannot hope to achieve success by coasting (Gladwell, 2008). It is precisely this, Dweck says, that keeps those with the fixed mindset from reaching their full potential (Dweck, 2006).
All of this aside, the big question still remains. What is success and how can a person be judged as successful or unsuccessful? Every person has a different idea of success. Neither Gladwell's book or Dweck's book give a clear definition of success. I believe that this is because every single person will have a different interpretation of what is successful. It comes back to mindsets. A fixed mindset person will see success as being better than everyone else and getting recognition. A growth mindset person will see success as putting forth maximum effort and learning from any setbacks that may occur (Dweck, 2006). Both of these books discuss success but no one can really say what success is.
I feel like both authors are correct in a way. Gladwell presents compelling arguments but there is no way of knowing if his statistics are biased. Dweck also presents a powerful point, but the same can be said of her studies. Psychology is such an unclear field it is hard to say when a test gives truly accurate results. I believe that both authors would agree with each others ideas in a way. However, they definitely disagree on some ideas also.  


Dweck, C. S. (2006) Mindset:The new psychology of success. New York: Ballantine Books. Print.


Gladwell, M. (2008) Outliers:The story of success. Hew York: Little, Brown and Company. Print.