Pre-Ramble: Turns out that the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow might have more relevance than we thought. According to best-selling author, Malcolm Gladwell in his new book “Outliers,”  success is as much a function of circumstance, effort, and luck as it is about innate ability.  Gladwell, science buff and staff writer for The New Yorker, examines a  collection of modern-day success stories including that of Microsoft co-founder, Bill Gates; nuclear physicist,” Robert Oppenheimer; and legendary musical group, the Beatles. In each of these cases, he concludes that far beyond any singular factor, exceptional levels of achievement were made possible by a synchronous combination of factors including  intelligence, determination, effort (practicing a skill for at least 10,000 hours…!), advantageous upbringing, optimal educational opportunities, adequate socio-economic resources, being in the right place at the right time, and just plain luck. Personal circumstances are a necessary condition, he notes, but “a lot of things need to break just right” in order to launch an individual into the realm of extraordinary success. ”People don’t rise from nothing… they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages, extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot.” (Note: Gladwell has written two other very well received books,”Tipping Point” (2000) and “Blink” (2005), which indicates that extraordinary success is also a function of snappy, engaging book titles.)

The principle of synchronicity was demonstrated to me up close and personal one sunny day last summer while I was brushing my teeth and watching the sprinklers in our front yard (… ok, summer days are supposed to be slow…).  Three of the pivoting spigots were launching fitful arcs of water above the grass, when suddenly, like a well-orchestrated dance, the sprays intersected with each other and the sunlight to create a tiny, brilliant segment of a rainbow. It was a magical little moment, made even more so when I realized that, had I been standing in another place, or if it had been another time of day where the sun was in a different position in the sky, this bright array of colors would not have been visible to me.

The Point: Like hidden rainbows, Wall Street Journal book reviewer, David Shaywitz (11/15/08, p. W10) suggests that the real message in Gladwell’s “Outliers” is its focus on the profound reality of lost potential and the costs of such a loss to individuals and to society. How much potential out there is being overlooked or ignored? How much raw talent remains uncultivated and is ultimately lost? Do we cling to outmoded ideas of what success looks like and what is truly required to achieve it? Shaywitz notes that Gladwell’s perspective ”passionately emphasizes the need to recognize and cultivate great minds that might be limited by their circumstances or environment.”  

The Take-Away: Potentially great minds are as close as your own backyard. In fact, there is an infinite number of ”potential rainbows” all around you all the time, just waiting for the right set of circumstances to reveal themselves. Short of watching sprinklers all day, you can encourage the spectrum of unrealized potential in yourself and others and increase your opportunities to access the success you seek.  By intentionally increasing your range of experiences and keeping your eyes open, you can increase your potential solution set and the value that is waiting there. If you aren’t seeing your opportunities, chances are you’re just standing in the wrong spot (see Descarte’s diagram of a rainbow above). Move over a little and look again.

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