How could a shepherd boy with a sling and a stone outmaneuver a
champion warrior with the equipment and size needed to rule the
battlefield in any contest of strength? How does a skinny little benchwarmer
named Rick Pitino become the head coach of the “Mecca for all those Davids who want to learn how to beat Goliaths?” How can a public school
educator say that her best year teaching was the year she taught a class of 29
students?
Malcolm Gladwell has written another
important book. His fresh and sometimes disturbing ideas turn conventional
wisdom on its ear as he studiously takes the reader through struggles between
the powerful and seemingly powerless. With great care for detail and tireless
research, he relentlessly argues that there are “advantages to disadvantages,
and disadvantages to advantages.” Case by case, he explores the theory of “desirable difficulties” and at the very least causes us to question tried
and true methods in education, criminal justice, and systems of government.
Highlighting nine characteristic struggles, he uses personal interviews and
immense research to lay out a convincing case, namely that so-called underdogs
may have advantages that are often lost in the drama of the battle. Likewise,
he theorizes the disadvantages inherent in power that prove detrimental to
those who "should" win.
Does a guaranteed severe sentence deter crime? What is the unique
story behind the rise of Impressionism in 1860’s France? What is the truth
about certain civil rights activists that most of us never heard?
From the book jacket: In the tradition of Gladwell's previous best-sellers Blink, Outliers, and What
the Dog Saw - David and Goliath draws
upon history, psychology, and powerful storytelling to reshape the way we think
about the world around us."
You will celebrate the victories of the Davids even as you marvel in disbelief over the limits of power and might. Like
it or not, the stories are true. This book will irritate you and excite you at
one and the same time. More than that, it will change the way you think about
the world. Read with care, and if you enjoy rooting for the underdog, you won't easily put down this book.
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and
The Art of Battling Giants
(Little, Brown and Co., 2013)
