Wolf Review(David and Goliath. Underdogs, Misfits and The Art of Battling Giants by Malcom Gladwell)

 

(Contents)

I am back with another book by Malcom Gladwell. Who doesn’t like supporting the underdogs? Naturally, supporting the underdogs gives one a sense of pride and happiness if the Davids of the world come out tops. 

It reminds me of what I do by supporting the underdog companies in the Singapore market, those out of favor and the unassuming. I had great joy when I got it right.

The David and Goliath story, which the book took reference from, on the surface, told a story of mismatch. How could a shepherd beat a 7-foot giant in combat? In reality, the greatest strength of a giant warrior could be his biggest weakness. A large body frame made the giant warrior very formidable in close to close combat, but less agile in movement. David, with his sling and accuracy, was able to take down Goliath with ease. It is similar of one side fighting with a sword and the other with a 0.45mm pistol in modern times. 

There are plenty of David vs Goliath match-ups in history. The Romance of Three Kingdoms where the Sun Quan and Liu Bei combined force of 50k troops overcoming Cao Cao’s 800k strong in the battle of Red Cliffs. How about Lawrence of Arabia leading a group of untrained tribesmen to a victory over the larger and superiorly trained, well-equipped Turks during the battle of Abaqa. A basketball team that lacked the individual skills came up as winners against a team of superstar. There are plenty of case studies given to re-enforce his views on David vs Goliath.

The author gave an example of the non-existent benefit of a reduced class size. Conventional wisdom has told us the reduction in class size produces better students. Under a natural study in some small town where student numbers in fifth grade fluctuate greatly year-on-year. The improvement in scores produced was a big fat zero, but the cost of hiring more teachers went up 21% over the last decade which barely justified by the marginal improvement.

There are struggle of rich parents teaching the right value to their children. Wealthy parents have difficulty saying “I can’t afford it” to their kids given they will be telling lies. Gone are the days when the first generation struggled financially to provide for their kids. Kids have to work during vacation to make their pocket money to be able to afford things they want to buy. Now kids get what they want on a silver platter without even asking for it. A difficult conundrum when teaching thrift. The author described the inverted U-curve. The difficulty of teaching kids the right value climbs when the income of parents goes up. How do you explain poverty when the parents have never gone through one? Real wealth doesn’t necessarily translate into real life advantages. 

Readers will be able to find out how “Relative Deprivation” or “Big fish-little pond effect” affects a person’s performance. It is against conventional wisdom that Ivy League universities produced better science students. Studies done by the author show that second and third tier universities produced equally good science graduates. It is attributed to normal students struggling to compete with the best in the Ivy League, giving up on their passion for science subjects. In the author’s view, a big fish in a small pond is better than a small fish in a big pond where normal students could be given space, without the overwhelming peer pressure to excel in their studies.

Readers can find out how dyslexics compensate for their disability by developing other skills that at times prove highly advantageous. Some of the most brilliant minds in the business world suffer from dyslexics and that doesn’t stop them from being the best in their field. 

The right to authority following the “principle of legitimacy”. People obey the authorities because they feel their voice will be heard. Second, the law has to be predictable. Thirdly, you can’t govern a country which has different rules applying to different segments of the population. Fairness is paramount to social order. Find out why the British Army’s brutality towards the Catholics in Northern Ireland during The Troubles never had a chance of suppressing the uprising. 

There are many nuggets of stories which will resonate with the readers. Cheering for underdogs is part of human nature. David turning out a winner in a contest with Goliath is more common than our impressions may have. The powerful are not as powerful as they seem, nor the weak as weak. The book is one of many author’s international bestsellers. It is a great title. David and Goliath-Underdogs, Misfits and The Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell goes onto Lone Wolf’s highly recommended list. I am pretty sure it won’t be the last book by the author I will be reviewing. God bless. Be your own David.🙏

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