How David Beats Goliath
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This is a fantastic article from the New Yorker on the effectiveness of relentless effort and unconventional technique, as it applies to basketball, war, and life. It reminds me of two things: first, a study a genius buddy told me about which concluded that most of the top guys in any given field were the relentless ones, not the most talented. This article goes much further than that conversation, though. Second, a while back there were a few articles on the new “white flight” in California where parents were moving their kids away from certain school districts because they didn’t like how academically competitive the Asians were. The article discusses not just the strategic consequences, but also the social consequences of playing by a different set of conventions (but the same “rules”) as the majority and beating them.
My friend who sent it to me had this to say:
I highly recommend you all check out the article “How David Beats Goliath” by Malcolm Gladwell.
Through examples ranging from a basketball team’s success with the full court press to Lawrence of Arabia’s battle against the Ottoman Empire, Gladwell explains how the underdog can come out on top. The analysis is insightful and the implications are sweeping, particularly with regard to the current conflicts in Iraq, Afganistan and Pakistan. In addition, Gladwell’s writing style is worthy of study. Specifically, his ability to effortlessly layer and transition back and forth between narratives while continuously adding depth to his thesis is quite an accomplishment.
My favorite quote, which is made while talking about the full court press: “We tell ourselves that skill is the precious resource and effort is the commodity. It’s the other way around. Effort can trump ability—legs, in Saxe’s formulation, can overpower arms—because relentless effort is in fact something rarer than the ability to engage in some finely tuned act of motor coördination.”
Happy reading.
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