Today’s meaning of David and Goliath – Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Gladwell’s key points of the book and how to implement them into your business or private life
One of my favorite Bible stories is David and Goliath, where the Philistine giant comes across a small shepherd boy. David and Goliath confront each other. Nine-foot tall Goliath, wearing full armor and javelin, against David, equipped only with a sling, doomed to failure.
As Goliath moved in for the kill, David reached into his bag and slung one of his stones at Goliath’s exposed forehead. Seconds after he fell face down on the ground. David then took Goliath’s sword, killed him and cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. “David and Goliath” became a phrase that represents an underdog situation, a contest where a smaller, weaker opponent faces a much bigger, stronger adversary.
Malcolm Gladwell’s Bestseller “David and Gliath – Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants”
But for centuries, we may have understood this story wrong. In Malcolm Gladwell’s book, “David & Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants,” Malcolm Gladwell turns that biblical story around and shows that David was not an underdog at all. He had a number of advantages that no one paid attention to.
The major theme of the book is that what may appear as disadvantages can turn out to be advantages and vice versa. Malcolm challenges our assumptions of what is good or bad, what is the strength and advantage. He also points out that every difficult hardship in life teach us skills, produces resiliency and courage, that everyone else will wish they had.
Each chapter presents examples from the world of sports, culture, and business psychology where the perceived weakness, in a long run, turned out to be a strength. Some of his observations are about dyslexia, the loss of a parent, and poverty. Malcolm Gladwell explores the possibility that people who are faced with a major disadvantage and find the determination and strength to fight against it, during the process acquire skills and experience that no formal education can teach. It confirms that failure is a step of success.
Malcolm Gladwell applies the same analogy to business, giving examples of an underdog companies and their competitors. Very often it is the small, upstart underdogs, with their new solutions to old problems, that often beat the Goliaths. The lesson here is not simply that when a powerful competitor takes on a smaller one, the smaller one might nevertheless win. Instead, it is about understanding the circumstances and taking into account that the key to “the battle” can sometimes be not that obvious.
Do not let fear of failure stop you from trying to reach your goal
Are you facing a giant problem or impossible situation, thinking that the situation is overwhelming and beyond your capabilities to overcome it?
This book is a perfect tool to get rid of these deep-seated beliefs. Do not let fear of failure stop you from trying to reach your goal. Failure is part of the process and road to success.
This book will show you how to use your view of disadvantage and turn it into an advantage. You know what they say… what does not kill us, makes us stronger…
You can also watch his TED talk “The unheard story of David and Goliath”
To order this book from Amazon CLICK HERE
Malcolm Gladwell Bestselling Books include: Outliers: The Story of Success, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference.
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