Outliers By Malcolm Gladwell When you look at talent in people around you it is not hard to surmise how that talent made the man or woman. But is there anything to timing, circumstances, and culture and their impact in creating successful people? All things are not always as they appear. The author describes the Beatles' American launch on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964...but what about Hamburg, Germany. What about Robert Oppenheimer and Chris Langan, two geniuses with two vastly different world impacts? In Outliers, we learn why so many hockey stars are born in the first four months of the year. We are introduced to reasons why computer revolutionaries Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Bill Joy, born from November 1954 to October 1955, became world changers. Could it all have to do whit a Popular Mechanics magazine article in January 1975? Frankly, Gladwell is a fascinating storyteller. He weaves fact and through in a compelling way. The last third of the book tends to drag a bit with brief bursts within. However, taken a a whole this is a read for every pastor who deals with his own talent and lack thereof. Although, not written in a spiritual tone, the application to work in the church is appropriate. So what is an "outlier"? It is that which is situated away from or is classed differently from a main or related body. Outliers defy the norm yet there is so much more to them than meets the eye. To pastors, I say, you can settle for the norm or be an outlier for the greatest cause on earth.