David and Goliath Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants
In the story of David and Goliath, a simple shepherd boy manages to defeat a gigantic well-armed soldier. This story has long served as a metaphor for the weak winning an "improbable victory" over the strong.
But according to Malcolm Gladwell, this interpretation is wrong. Instead, challenges and obstacles can actually give underdogs a winning advantage.
The Advantages of Disadvantages (and the Disadvantages of Advantages)
We tend to assume that the weak person, or the weak army in the case of a war, will lose. When Lawrence of Arabia fought with the Arabs against the
Turks near the end of WW1, his band of Bedouin fighters was small. The Turks had equipment and numbers but they were outfoxed by Lawrence's agility and audacity. The Turks didn't initially view Lawrence's soldiers as a threat, and as a
result lost many battles against the much smaller force.
The Theory of Desirable Difficulty
Sometimes disadvantages - like dyslexia - can engender positive results.
Most of us gravitate to things we're good at, engaging in "capitalization learning,"
where we refine strengths we already possess. But dyslexics must undertake
"compensation learning," which is much harder. Dyslexics who can learn this way,
" ... are better off than they would have been otherwise, because what is learned
out of necessity is inevitably more powerful," says Gladwell.
The Limits of Power
Power alone can be ineffective. To be effective, it must first be perceived as legitimate. In Brownsville, a New York City neighborhood troubled by crime, the police were seen as the enemy, and ignored. But after police officers took the time to build strong community connections, legitimizing the authority of the police, crime rates in Brownsville steadily decreased.
Changing Perspectives
There are many ways that weakness can be turned to strength. What initially looks like an obstruction or impediment can in fact turn out to be an advantage or opportunity. Challenge how you think about setbacks, says Gladwell, and relish the strength that can result from adversity.
By Malcolm Gladwell
