You know - I'm not sure what the deal is with Gladwell. Yes, he's a good writer, but nothing he does is original thinking - it's all about what others have done and he compiles it. This particular book seems to me as a requirement fulfilment for a deal; like, you have a certain number of books to write and this is one. It's a compilation of articles that he wrote for the New Yorker.
O.K., it's interesting and readable, but if you don't read it read this; pages 368 & 369:
"The broader failing of McKinsey and its acolytes at Enron is their assumption that an orgaization's intelligence is simply a function of the intelligence of its employees. They believe in stars, because they don't believe in systems. In a way that's understandable, because our lives are so obviously enriched by individual brilliance. Groups don't write great novels, and a committee didn't come up with the theory of relativity. But companies work by different rules. They don't just create; they execute and compete and coordinate the efforts of many different people, and the organizations that are most successful at that task are the ones where the system is the star."
But, you already know that.
Ellie Mae heads to Harvard
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I thought the same thing about the book. I felt kind of cheated by it - his first three books all had a common theme, but this one seemed like he just threw it together. If I wanted to read his articles from The New Yorker, I would go buy The New Yorker.
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