One of the main benefits of being at the Gates Foundation is the large number of special guests and speakers we have every year.  Last Friday, we hosted a chat with the brilliant Malcolm Gladwell.   I had never read any of his books before but I had heard glowing reviews for Tipping Point and Blink.  The focus of his discussion was his new book – Outliers.  Despite the name, the real intent of the book is not to point out what is unique about an individual or situation, it is to present the unique set of circumstances that lead to an “outlier”.  He was brilliant!  Some of the things he discussed:

• Why rice growing traditions in Southeast Asia have led to higher math test scores
• Why most elite hockey players are born during the early parts of the year
• Why the birthdate of a majority of our software tycoons is within the same three year period

I purchased his book for a friend and got it signed, however I could not stop myself from reading it from page to page over the past weekend.  It is brilliant!

The inauguration of Barack Obama is tomorrow.  One of Malcolm’s most interesting speaking points was that America sees Obama as an outlier but in many ways he is not.  Symbollically he might be the fruition of Martin Luthor King’s dreams, but technically his background doesn’t match.  In the end, it doesn’t really matter.  Tomorrow we will have an inspiring new president with an inbox from hell.  I have tremendous faith in him.