This book was given to me by my boyfriend David, which I find really funny because every time I read it, it always reminds me of him. I’m pretty sure he gave it to me with that in mind. Not to mention that there were also two characters named David in this book. All of them have some amazing stories to watch out for.
This would also be my first time to publish a book review in my blog so I'm a bit excited! Feel free to comment or suggest anything.
“David and Goliath” by Malcom Gladwell is a non-fiction book which is totally far from the books I normally read. I loved how the author put all the inspiring stories together, creating a beautiful masterpiece. The stories were based from the experience of the people who went through difficulties in their lives but surprisingly, their faith and determination to do better never wavered. They creatively took advantage of the tough situation.
So here are the 6 different stories of success that had struck me most.
**SPOILER ALERT**
"The Advantages of Disadvantages (and the Disadvantage of the Advantages)"
Vivek Ranadivé
Ranadivé was from Mumbai and he grew up playing Soccer and Cricket. He never actually played Basketball in his whole life and here he was, coaching a girl's basketball team who weren't so adept in playing that sports too. To make things worse, these were also the girls who weren't tall and couldn't even shoot. What these girls only have is the passion to win. And Ranadivé knew that you have to be desperate. You have to be so bad at something that you have no choice.
People would think by looking at this girls that their complete inability to pass, dribble and shoot was their greatest disadvantage. But it really wasn't. Actually, it was what made their winning strategy possible. He believed that effort can trump ability and that conventions are made to be challenged. So he wittingly used the full-press court strategy to his advantage. Because of it, they made it to the nationals.
Teresa Debrito
Are class size and student achievement correlated? Teresita Debrito is a principal in a middle school at Shepaug Valley.
This part of the book is a bit technical. So basically, it's about a study conducted in a classroom with only a few pupils versus a lot of pupils. They were trying to figure out if which among the two cases will children learn more. All factors were taken into consideration to arrive at a definitive conclusion.
In a smaller and intimate class size, students get far more individual attention from their teacher and common sense says that the more attention students get from their teacher, the better learning experience they will have. But there are complications to this idea too. When there are only a few students in a room, the chances that students are surrounded by critical mass of other people like them start to get really low. Interactive interactions will shy away since they become too conscious; fearing they might be wrong. The more students a room has, the more variety of ideas can have in discussions.
Caroline Sacks
Would you want to be a big fish in a small pond? Or a small fish in a big pond?
Caroline Sacks belongs to the cream of the crop in their school. She got As in every class she took in highschool. Her dilemma started when she was about to choose a university. She applied in Brown University with the University of Maryland as her backup. Obviously, she chose Brown University since it's a member of Ivy League. She believed that the brand value of the school in her diploma might give her a leg up on the job market.
And so she chose being the Little Fish in one of the deepest and most competitive ponds in the country. She didn't anticipate that she will have smarter peers and this made her feel stupid even if she really isn't. The feeling and experience of comparing herself to all other brillant fish shattered her confidence. She was experiencing what is called "relative deprivation." How we feel about our abilities or self-concept defines and shapes our willingness to tackle challenges and finish difficult tasks.
"The Theory of Desirable Difficulty"
David Boies
He is the highly acclaimed and one of the most sought after trial lawyers in the world.
The fact that David Boies is dyslexic has never held him back. He compensate for his disability by developing outstanding powers of concentration and a keen memory. Law school is mostly all about reading and Boies is someone for whom reading is a struggle. To help himself keep up, he became a good listener. It's the only way he could learn. While his classmates were writing notes, he was focused on what their professor was saying and committing what he heard to memory. Unlike them, his attention is undivided and not compromised. Boies might not have been a reader, but the things he was forced to do because he could not read well turned out to be even more valuable.
If you take away the gift of reading, you create the gift of listening.
Emil "Jay" Frierich
"Courage is not something that you already have that makes you brave when the tough times start. Courage is what you earn when you've been through the tough times."
In 1965, Frierich and Frei published "Progress and Perspectives in the Chemotherapy of Acute Leukemia" in Advances in Chemotherapy, announcing that they had developed a successful treatment for childhood leukemia.
Frierich is known by his colleagues as a tough, imposing and intimidating person. All of this was the product of a very hard childhood experience. He had a courage to do and think the unthinkable that no doctors dared to do. He experimented on children and took them through pain no human being should ever have to go through. These children became the 'sacrificial lamb' of a science breakthrough that most cancer patients are enjoying now.
People had doubted him but he proved them wrong. In fact, he had been told and confronted by his fellow doctors that what he was doing was unethical and that he was torturing the patients. Yes, it's true. It was not the empathetic response but if he had listened to them, it would not have led to a cure.
"The Limits of Power"
Wilma Derksen
What happened to the Derksen family after losing one member of a family due to a very tragic crime wasn't something easy to swallow. But she held on to the
Mennonite Philosophy:
"Forgive those who trespass against you."
For the Mennonites, it is a religious imperative. It's about forgiving and moving forward. They were taught that this is an alternative way to deal with injustice.
Putting someone behind bars has an indirect effect. It affects the family of that criminal and a very high number of men who gets into prison are mostly fathers. The effect on child of having a father sent away to prison is devastating and could have a psychological effect on the whole family too. This just proves the limits of power.
Wilma Derksen gathered all the strength she could muster in order to forgive the killer of her daughter. They didn't believe and rely much on the power of the government to deliver justice to their family. And seeking justice in the hands of man could just take a toll on them and could really be draining. The Derksens knew that they could lose their health, sanity and each other if they allowed their daughter's murder to consume them.
**THE END**
I would just like to share the list of books I want to read for year 2016. These are suggested by the most accomplished people in the world (Warren Buffett and the likes). Looking forward to read all of it before this year ends.
1. Tap Dancing To Work - Warren Buffet
2. Now, Discover Your Strengths -Marcus Buckingham
3. Self-Reliance and Other Essays - Ralph Waldo Emerson
4. 100 Years of Solitude - Gabriel Marque
5. Heaven is for Real- Lynn Vincent
