David and Goliath - Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell's book David and Goliath reexamines what it means to have a perceived advantage.  From the story of David and Goliath in the bible to combating crime in a Brownsville New York he illustrates the need for people in power to be careful and caring about how they use it.

With respect to David, he was a stone thrower.  They were very effective in ancient battle against slow moving, heavily armed infantry.  Goliath wanted David to fight him in a test of strength.  David wisely chose to attack choosing a tactic that favored his strength.  Mr. Gladwell successfully argues that we have been misinterpreting the power relationship of this story for thousands of years.   He also applies this to 12 year old girl basketball players.  If you don't have the talent to dribble pass or shoot your only option for success is to press the whole game.  The scores may be 6 to 0 but you have no chance if you let the other team get passed half court and into their offense.

He outlines the need for those in power not to respond to unrest with brute force but to listen to the demands of the oppressed.  Heavy handed tactics applied by the British in Northern Island made the resistance even stronger.  The tactics convert fence sitters into people willing to die for a cause.  As an aside: The same heavy handed tactics have also not worked in India by the British and in Burma by the Dutch after World War II.  From the Aesop's parable: Sun and the Wind -  People will change more when offered warmth and kindness than cold, brutal force.

Limitations can be gift. A surprising number of very successful people are dyslexic including the head of Goldman Sax.  The struggle to work around the limitation allowed the individuals to become much stronger than average in other areas.  He advocates that the absence of struggle while growing up is a significant handicap.  It prevents individuals from becoming stronger through adversity.  Although dyslexic individuals all credit the struggle to overcome their disability with success none of them would wish the struggle on their children.

Malcolm's philosophy fits nicely with Nassim Talib's concept of Antifragility.  A certain amount of good stress does make us stronger.

Malcom Gladwell - 16 minutes

Malcolm Gladwell - Google talk - 57 minutes