In Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell presents his findings on why some people achieve in statistically outlying ways. Malcolm Gladwell has performed a broad reaching study aiming to find what makes people who are extremely successful different. As usual he’s done a pretty good job at presenting some of his findings with a good mix of anecdotes and facts.

One of the big overriding factors is how much external influences impact people. The location and cultural context in which someone is born, the year in which they were born, and even the birth month has a huge impact. Before reading the book I would have had no idea, after I can agree with him, but don’t worry, I’m not about to become an astrologer, and I don’t think it is directly related to the Chinese birth years (although there might be some links). Of additional interest is the idea of 10000 hours of practice being required to become an expert.

The quick list of impacts of particular interest for me were:

1. 10,000 hours of practice is required before becoming an expert
2. the birth month can have a huge impact (6-9 months of age difference can make a huge difference in early childhood – so early streaming favours the older children, with cascading effects)
3. the birth year can have a huge impact (careers available, and many hugely successful people are early adopters, so there is only a small window of age/experience that makes it available)
4. our cultural heritage makes a huge difference (what path and options make sense is often dependant on how we are guided by our parents, which cascades backwards)

The lessons are taught well through the book, and it is a compelling read. You may not agree with all the findings, but I’m sure you will get a good read, learn the stories of some successful people, and be challenged in some of your thinking about success.

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion is a good little book. It provides a readable interesting introduction to the lifework of Robert Cialdini PhD. Robert's research is an interesting mix of Psychology and Marketing, and while I know that it isn't normal for an Engineer to read something like this, but I like to be atypical (I also am an Aussie who doesn't drink ). 

Robert presents the findings of his research, and what he has discovered about persuasion, distilled into the form of six principles . What makes this particularly interesting is the active way he did the research.  He studied the results of experiments, performed his own studies, and worked hard to understand the results (which he presented well).  Also Robert tells of his excitement in trying to analyse situations in which someone persuaded him to do something, and his adventures in trying to understand some of the persuasive people out there.  The wide range of examples in the book includes:

• Boy scouts selling chocolates
• How the Krishna work
• Used car salespeople
• Celebrity endorsements
• Limited time specials
• Some very interesting scientific studies

If nothing else reading through each of the examples of the persuasion and the discussion of what happened was brilliant.  My perspective of free gifts has completely changed. I'd argue that there is much more value in the book.  Getting an idea of why people say yes, and some of the principles behind this is very valuable. The principles are:

• Reciprocation
• Commitment and Consistency
• Social Proof
• Liking
• Authority
• Scarcity

The following provide a very brief note of each area. They are not complete, instead opening up some of the things that most impressed me, and that are worth noting.  Read the book if you want to get the real sense of what's being talked about.  (Failing reading the book you can visit the website).

Reciprocation

After someone does something nice we are likely to reciprocate and do something nice for them. What we do in return may be much greater in value.  Also if we say no to what feels like a big request, we are likely to reciprocate by saying yes to a smaller request.

In sales. Try and start big. Then be nice and sell smaller.

Commitment and Consistency

Once we have made a commitment to something we are likely to act in a way that is consistent with that action.

If we say that we start doing something small we are likely to continue.  This provides an interesting trade-off between this principle and reciprocation.  The way I would reconcile things is the start with a big request, then graciously let someone turn it down and go with a small request in the initial meeting.  The later use the principle of consistency to continue with additional requests.

Social proof

We will often look to others when deciding how to act in a situation. This mostly works well, but can be the cause of problems in situations like if someone has had an accident in a crowd.  People in the crowd will look to how others respond, which can lead to inactivity.

Liking

We will often behave differently if we like someone, or if they like us.  The best example of using this principle comes from Tupperware.  Women will often buy Tupperware when at a party to help their friends, even when they only went to the party because of the friendship.  Blokes aren't immune to this either.

Authority

We treat authority figures differently.  Even young college students (who we expect to have a healthy disrespect for authority) treat authority figures differently.  What is particulary interesting is that experimental results show that we have a poor self perception of how much we do value authority.

Scarcity

A cookie tastes better if there aren't many, and even better again if the limited supply is caused by lots of other people wanting it.  Tech manufactures use this principles.  There is an art form to ensuring that you run out of stock on release day.

Being aware of these principles is a valuable skill to have. We all are in situations where we need to communicate important information.  Being able to persuade people is important. We are all in situations where others are trying to persuade us.  Robert does a good job in helping us think through strategies of how to avoid being manipulated. 

Go Read the book and learn about persuasion, and use your powers for good.

Like many software developers, I'm fuelled by coffee. I really enjoy a good cup of coffee, and even a dodgy cup has enough of that coffee taste to bring some good thoughts to my mind. I'm happiest working on a hard problem with a cup of coffee in my hand.

I recently picked up a copy of Starbucked: A Double Tall Tale of Caffeine, Commerce, and Culture, from the library and had a nice light read,enjoying reading the history of Starbucks (I grew up travelling to Seattle, so know them from when their focus was selling beans).

The book is a good read, well written, telling the story of Starbucks from it’s beginnings to today. Love or hate Starbucks coffee (perhaps it is a little over-roasted), there is no denying that they brought expresso (Cappuccino and Late anyway)and a love of at least half decent coffee to the masses. Hearing the history of the company, and getting some insights into the good and bad of where they are today was particularly interesting.

There is also a good dose of coffee culture and the life-cycle of coffee, from farm to cup. Like many people, I’ve always been aware of the issues relating to ensuring that growers actually get paid something for their coffee crops. I’ve had a tendency towards Fair Trade, and organic coffee for a long time. What I didn’t realise was some of the issues and weaknesses with the Fair Trade movement. The book presents a strong argument for going with one’s selfish tendencies, and getting the best product available. By doing this you are going to influence the free market, and help farmers who produce good products get the best prices (if you want to learn about the free market, ask an MBA, or visit the Adam Smith Institute if you are afraid of being exploited by a money hungry business type).

A final area that I found particularly interesting was the discussion on Illy coffee. A pilot coffee drinking friend (he knows the best coffee shops in every airport in Australia) has it at home, so I was interested to read about it. I’ve always been a bit cynical of the possibilities of it comparing to local roasts out of concerns for freshness. How could an imported coffee be as good as fresh coffee just roasted around the corner. What I hadn’t realised was the impact of a chemist (Dr. Ernesto Illy, son of the founder) spending 50 years working on the process of making and distributing coffee. The work of quality at Illy, has resulted in the publication of Espresso Coffee, Second Edition: The Science of Quality edited by his son, Andrea Illy, the current CEO of Illy coffee.

I’d definitely recommend taking a read of Starbucked for all people interested in business or coffee. It makes for a good interesting read, covering coffee, coffee culture, and Starbucks.

footnote: when researching this article I was interested to see that Illy runs on IBM WCM, the latest company to OEM Ephox EditLive!