The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell, redefines the secrets of success. Gladwell states that while an individual's success can be achieved through innate talent and determination, it is primarily the result of a combination of external factors such as provided opportunities, sufficient practice, innate privileges, and cultural norms. He incorporates assessments of the Matthew effect, the 10,000 hour rule, the backstory of genes, and cultural inheritance to support his substantive argument. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The Matthew Effect talks about the role of opportunity in determining the success of athletes. To explain this phenomenon, Gladwell includes the player roster of the 2007 Medicine Hat Tigers (a Canadian ice hockey team) that includes their birth dates and notices an unusual pattern: approximately 68% of the athletes were born in the early four months of the year. This is not simply a coincidence, as the cause of this phenomenon is that the Canadian eligibility cutoff is January 1st. Those born after this limit have a physical advantage over the rest of the players. Therefore, future coaches prefer players who are physically advantaged to be part of the “repeat teams” and these select few athletes receive higher quality and more hands-on training. Because they have the possibility of an early birth, Gladwell uses this source to show that it influences their chances of success as an athlete. The athletes who are most successful in the industry are those born during the early months, because they receive better care and opportunities. In summary, being successful does not necessarily mean that you develop through innate talent and determination, but also through the opportunities you find. The 10,000 hour rule explains that success is determined through an immense amount of practice. Available and accessible resources must support these hours of practice. Gladwell uses the personal example of Bill Joy to further this section of his argument. Gladwell begins to explain Joy's personal story and the success she achieved later in life; he was given various opportunities and time to further his art. When Joy was asked in an interview how much time she spent developing software, she replied, “ten thousand hours.” Using this source, Gladwell demonstrates the perception that dedicating 10,000 hours to a specific task increases the chances of success. Because Joy was given opportunities and able to dedicate a significant amount of time to his work, he was able to put in the 10,000 hours he needed to perfect his occupation. The problem behind geniuses deepens the problem with those who are innately a genius, their success is only possible with more than just “gifts”. To develop this point of view, Gladwell provides a source from a famous experiment led by Lewis Terman. Terman set out to find "young geniuses" (called Termites in this study) who had IQs around 150 or higher, and decided to follow them throughout their lives, listing their accomplishments, careers, and lives until they reached adult. As the termites reached adulthood, Terman continued to measure their success, filtering these “young geniuses” into three groups. The first group was called the “A” group, and they were the ones who were really successful in the lives of lawyers and doctors. The second group was group “B”, and they were the middle group, with “satisfactory” results. The last group was called group “C” and they were unable to stay at home on their sofas, often unemployed...