Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.” ~Aristotle
I love this quote by Aristotle. It reminds me of what Malcolm Gladwell wrote in his book: “Outliars”. Ten thousand hours of deliberate practice are needed to achieve expert-level mastery in any field. While the 10,000-hour rule has become widely known, some argue it’s an oversimplification. They emphasize the importance of the quality…
The Adaptable Educator's Book Review - Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell offers a provocative re‑examination of what it takes to rise to the top—arguing that individual talent and hard work, while essential, are only part of the story. Gladwell, already celebrated for his knack for weaving social science into compelling narratives, advances two core propositions: success is contingent on opportunities (both cultural…
The Adaptable Educator's Book Review - Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking ventures into the shadowy terrain of rapid cognition, positing that our split‑second decisions—“thin‑slices” of experience—often rival, and sometimes surpass, the judgments arrived at through deliberate analysis. For the literary scholar, Blink offers more than a popular psychology manifesto; it is a study in narrative persuasion,…
The Adaptable Educator's Book Review - The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point (2000) is not merely a work of pop sociology or business insight—it is, at its core, an essayistic narrative that draws deeply from the tradition of empirical observation, intuitive reasoning, and accessible storytelling. While its genre alignment is nonfiction, its intellectual roots stretch toward the salons of Enlightenment thinkers, where the philosophical…
In my endeavor to learn to write well, I’ve fixated on Malcolm Gladwell’s “10,000 hours to expert” theme.
Thus far I calculate I’ve spent 2500 hours on the task. How many words might that be? Four hundred thousand could get me close.
Regardless, the journey has presented numerous obstacles, time, or the lack thereof, being the most egregious. Had I the time, I’d have applied myself…
A war that started with Western efforts at damage control has become one that offers a strategic opportunity for the West to constrain Russia’s expansionist ambitions.
For an excellent analysis of what we have witnessed in Ukraine, see Malcolm Gladwell’s David and Goliath.
As with the shepherd boy, no one believed he could slay the giant, until he did. After he did, the Israelites made him their king.
“You’re next”
After Russia’s activities in south Asia, the Caucasus, the Middle East, and Ukraine prior to February 24, you can understand why a number of countries in Eastern Europe, such as the Baltics, might hear Moscow’s message: “You’re next.” Putin has been relentless since he came to power in the middle of the Chechen war. Moreover, if his actions have not spoken loudly enough, his words resolve doubts: he wants to restore Russia to the place it had in the world before the Berlin Wall came down.
When he started his months long build-up to prepare an assault on Kyiv and Donbas, Western leaders thought, “There’s not a lot we can do. Putin has succeeded in so many other acts of aggression, how can we prevent this one?” It turns out, you don’t have to prevent an act of aggression in order to stop it. Russian military forces have destroyed neighborhood after neighborhood in city after city, but Ukrainians have stopped them.
That Putin threatens use of nuclear weapons shows how desperate he is. No one confident of victory would make such a threat. Keep in mind, too, that if Russia loses, Putin may be able to escape death, but his life will be horrible no matter what happens to him. If you want to be dictator, prepare to meet a dictator’s end if you lose a war.
Leadership we need
Now may we pray that Zelensky slings the stone the crushes Putin’s skull, figuratively speaking. We have lived with is criminal for too long. We have made excuses for him for too long. We even had a president who admired him like a fan boy for four years, who said, “I want to be like him.” Yes, Putin became a model of leadership for the president of the United States.
People say our country needs to find its bearings gain. We did not expect our guide would the president of Ukraine. No matter what happens in Eastern Europe, we want to find our examples of leadership wherever they present themselves. Then we can make sure Ukraine wins.
