What Malcolm Gladwell’s David and Goliath Teaches Modern Businesses

New York Times Bestseller, Malcolm Gladwell, adds a fifth book to his list of works with, David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and The Art of Battling Giants. In typical Gladwell form, his novel explores the psychological, sociological, and economical factors that coalesce together, explaining how underdogs sometimes finish first.

For examples Gladwell examines how someone with dyslexia can become a world class attorney despite difficulties reading efficiently or how a basketball team, with little talent and a coach with no prior basketball knowledge, were able to win their league. Stories like these filled with casts of colorful characters line David and Goliath, giving Gladwell his unique and flowing style that is all his own.

However, as idiosyncratic as his work is, David and Goliath commonly dives in the deep by provoking hair raising theories with very little substantial support. Specifically, Gladwell’s theory of “Desirable Difficulty,” which pokes at the idea that being dyslexic, losing a parent, or living in London during the WWII bombings are considered desirable difficulties. He claims that when people are placed in difficult circumstances, it provides them the opportunity to fight like they have nothing to lose. Supporting the ole’ adage, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”.

Gladwell uses examples to examine this philosophy. Specifically, the story of “talentless” basketball team with their neophyte coach, Vivek Ranadive. Before their season, Vivek and his assistant recognized that his daughters youth basketball team possessed little talent compared to their competitors. Vivek wondered how he could take this group of underdogs and transform them into winners. So, Vivek began exploring his options. He discerned that if they could master their defense, specifically the full court press, and wear down the stamina of his opponents his team had a chance to be competitive. With nothing to lose, Vivek implemented his strategy, which ended up working . To garner success with his team of underdogs, Vinek had to play the game like he had nothing to lose and in the end his strategy paid off.

Stories like this are rampant among businesses’ beginnings. Take a look at a company like Zappos. From Zappos’ inception they believed that the consumer would purchase shoes off the internet. By thinking outside the box and trying something completely new in an already established and competitive market, Zappos was able to succeed against the Goliaths of the time to become a billion dollar company(with an amazing culture to boot)

For anything to remain successful in this world it must be willing to adapt, including businesses. Organizations, just like animals and people, must be willing to adapt, innovate, and learn to remain dominant. There are major lessons in David and Goliath that every individual and organization should learn such as:

1. To be the Become Best You Don’t Have to Be the Best

• In his book Malcolm Gladwell tells the story of a young construction worker named David Boies. Due to having dyslexia, David struggled in school until he began taking classes at a local college. Here he discovered the debate club and excelled, ultimately finding his life’s calling of becoming a lawyer. But once David enrolled in Northwestern’s law program he felt overwhelmed by the coursework. He quickly realized that to be successful he would have to devise a method to obtain the knowledge vital in the readings without actually reading it. So what David did was rely on his superior auditory learning capabilities, derived from living his life with dyslexia, and read only case summaries. David used his strengths to overcome his adversities and after graduating law school David became a world renowned lawyer. David let his “disability be his opportunity,” and never gave up.

2. Being the Biggest Fish is a Small Pond is Better than the Opposite

• Most recognize Brown University as being holistically better than Maryland University but according to Gladwell this is not always the case. See Gladwell cites a Caroline Sacks who was extremely academically gifted and was college bound. She got into her top choice of Brown along with Maryland University. This pre-med student did what most would and choose to attend Brown. However, once she was there she felt mediocre and very intimated by her competitive classmates, and ultimately quit her pre-med regimen. In hindsight, Caroline claims she should have gone to Maryland so she could have been a big fish in a figuratively smaller or a less competitive pond. We often see businesses try to succeed in markets that are to big from them and subsequently meet their failure. It is very important for organizations and individuals to be sentient to which pond they will be successful.

3. Never Underestimate the Underdog

• Lastly, Gladwell teaches us that in all aspects of life we should never write off the underdog because anything can hrockyappen. Think of events like the Miracle on Ice, the entire Rocky series, or even the American Revolution when the weaker competitor defeated their stronger opponents. Organizations and companies should never underestimate competition because eventually they will surpass you. Look at the American car industry, which during the majority of the 1900s dominated the car manufacturing industry but was eventually surpassed by an array of international manufacturers. It is vital for any organization or individual to never underestimate the underdog because you might lose.

Although, David and Goliath is not the best non-fiction book in the world it is certainly a tantalizing read that explores social phenomenons. I would recommend it to anyone who fancies themselves a reader or has seriously enjoyed one of Malcolm Gladwell’s previous books.

If you have any concerns, critiques, or cries of outrage please submit them in the comment section below.

-Danny Gattas