I have always been a huge fan of Malcolm Gladwell. His previous works Blink and the Tipping Point provide some of the the most insightful and revolutionary ideas surrounding the business world during the past decade. Outliers challenges fundamental notions of success and the book is premised on the supposition that success is the product of circumstances and opportunity. The assertion is that these factors may have more to do with success than our traditional notions of hard work, intelligence, ambition and passion. Try as I might with an open mind I could never quite buy into the book’s most basic conclusions.

Gladwell credits “lucky breaks” “good fortune” “timing” “birthplace” and “cultural advantages” to the success of Bill Gates, the law firm of Skadden and Arps and Canadian hockey players. There is no doubt that many factors influence a person’s success and we would be naive to believe that anyone ever accomplished success on their own. But for every success story that Gladwell pairs up with these peripheral facts, there are thousands of others with the same factors who did not succeed. Did these things create opportunities? Certainly!

But here is the point that I believe Gladwell misses throughout the work. Successful people find and make opportunities and it is their passion and their untiring willingness to devote themselves wholly to their mission that sets them apart. What may appear as opportunities that were unfairly bestowed upon them I think would be better characterized as opportunities that they sought out. When Gladwell speaks of the internet giants who were “given” free computer time access and just happen to be fortunate, we fail to realize that these people would have doggedly pursued an outlet for their endeavors until they secured it in one way or another. That is what made them successful, not what looks like unfair advantage and opportunity.

I can’t think of any better example than Gladwell’s own family which he talks about in the last chapter. When he said that his great grandmother went out and was fortunate enough to be given the opportunities. I think the most important words are that she “went out!” That is the hallmark of success and opportunities come to those who with passion and undaunted vigilance seek them out.

There is plenty here to digest and to get you thinking, from the educational research done by Karl Alexander which explains the impact that summer vacations have on education to the Hofstedt Dimensions which add insight into plane crashes, Gladwell does what he always does so well and that is make you think. I would say the book is well worth the read, even if you disagree with the importance that Gladwell places on ancillary “outsider” influences on success.

Malcolm Gladwell is the author of the #1 International Bestsellers, The Tipping Point and Blink. He is a staff writter for the The New Yorker and was formerly a business and science reporter at the Washington Post.

Those of you who have been in our courses know that we read a lot of material and make the best recommendations to you regarding resources that will help and assist you. Through 20,000 hours of live classroom education and over a decade of teaching real estate classes there has been only one book that we have been saying is a “MUST OWN” for every real estate professional – Michelle Lind’s “Arizona Real Estate, A Professional’s Guide to Law & Practice.”

As all of us should know, Michelle Lind acts as General Counsel for the Arizona Association of Realtors in Phoenix. Nearly every form that you use in your real estate practice Michelle Lind had a hand in creating. Her days are filled with providing advice and insight into risk management issues and legal questions for brokers and agents throughout the state.

You can now have Michelle Lind’s wisdom and guidance at your fingertips. This book is full of practical everyday information you need to know. We guarantee that no matter what level you may be at in your real estate practice you will find information in this book that you didn’t know, but should. At the end of each chapter Michelle provides great practice tips. They alone would be  worth the price. Do yourself and your practice a favor, you’ll be glad you have this book.

K Michelle Lind is General Counsel for the Arizona Association of REALTORS®

Many of you may recognize the author, Stephen C. Lundin, as the bestselling coauthor of “FISH” which provided amazing insights for boosting morale and productivity in the workplace. Dr. Lundin is back with a new international bestseller entitled, Cats – The Nine Lives of Innovation. Building on the principle that companies don’t innovate, people do, the book dissects the process of innovation. If you have ever wondered why some people keep having all of the great ideas while others struggle this book has the answers.

Though doubts, fears and distractions are the primary killers of innovation, Dr. Lundin has identified 9 key characteristics of CATS. CATS are the innovative voices and forces that drive business forward. Those characteristics as outlined by Lundin are:

1. CATS create an innovation friendly environment

2. CATS are always prepared

3. CATS know that innovation isn’t normal

4. CATS welcome physical provocation.

5. CATS enjoy social provocation

6. CATS promote intellectual provocation

7. CATS say, “How Fascinating!”

8. CATS fail early and fail well

9. CAT wranglers understand natural energy.

You’ll learn how to use and apply these principles to take fundamental steps on a personal innovation journey and you’ll learn alot about your business as well. Definitely worth the read.

Stephen C. Lundin is a writer and filmmaker with a background in business management and education. His bestselling book FISH! has appeared continuously on the Wall Street Journal and Business Week bestseller lists and has been published in 34 languages.

Those of you who really want to know how much the current world in which we live and work has shifted on its axis should read, Groundswell by Li and Bernoff. The subtitle of the book is “Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies”. What all need to understand better in business is the fact that the “Groundswell” is about so much more than new technology. The technology is only the tool that is ushering in a whole new era of how we work and how business is built. Among the gems of truth drving this social revolution are the fact that:

• Any business can develop strategies for dealing with the groundswell
• The level of client polling and feedback can be utilized like never before
• People trust people more than they do advertising or companies and the groundswell can allow you to take opportunistic advantage of  that fact
• You can energize your consumers to a level previously unattainable
• You can collaborate in new and innovative ways

Groundswell isn’t some “pie in the sky” philosophical discussion. It is backed up with powerful consumer research. Whether you are a salesperson, an entrepreneur, a marketer, a business manager or a company owner, this information will help you make sense of what is really going on and how you and your business can benefit from it.

Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff are vice-presidents and principal analysts at Forrester Research. They originated Forrester’s Ongoing Technographics Surveys and Web 2.0 Research

We had the wonderful opportunity to meet Dan Pink and watch him in action at the National Association of Realtors Convention. Now, we are very excited to see him hitting it big with Oprah!! Check out his Oprah interview. Check out this article, Why right-brainers will rule this century, and then go buy his book “A Whole New Mind”. You will be glad you did!

You’ll be amazed at Dan’s analysis of how the world is changing and what you need to do if you expect to stay in the game. Most of us were raised in an era that praised the left brain analyticals who became doctors and engineers. Dan will explain why the current state of the world and its rapid fire progression is poised to reward the right brain creative thinkers. The book is full of insights and was heralded as a “miracle, completely original and profound” by Tom Peters the author of In Search of Excellence. It is indeed one of the most insightful business books you can read today.

Dan Pink is the bestselling author of Free Agent Nation. His articles on work, business and technology appear in many publications including the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Slate, Fast Company & Wired.

Bill Tancer’s Click is a welcome journey into cyberspace. Subtitled, “What Million of People Do Online and Why It Matters” will open your eyes to the world of the internet.

What’s most amazing about Click is the statistical validity that Tancer has included in the book. Remember the old process of counting how many hits your website or page gets as a measure of its effectiveness? Bill Tancer is not a “hit” analyzer he is a clickstream analyzer. Today’s technology allows people like Tancer to dig much deeper than page hits. He looks at the stream of clicks. In other words where were they before they clicked on your site and where did they go afterwards? Now that’s powerful marketing information. I sort of looked at this book as the insider’s expose of what is being tracked, why its being tracked and what is being done with information gained by our increased use of the internet. Bill is the inside man to tell the story. Once you have read this you will never look at your website or blog the same way.

Bill Tancer is the general manager of Global Research at the online competitive intelligence firm Hitwise, an Experian Company. He has access to extensive data regarding internet usage and the tools with which to properly analyze it.