In his book, Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell discusses about the
different factors that lead to one’s success. In the first part of the book, he
confirms that there is more to one’s success than their intelligence and hard
drive. Rather, he focuses on when and where one is born, the upbringing and
occupations of one’s parents, and their own upbringing. In the second part of
the book, Gladwell discusses how cultural legacies could impact one’s success. The chapter that I found the most noteworthy of part two
was definitely chapter 7, “The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes.” To understand
the problem surrounding Korean Air Flight 801 introduced in the beginning of
the chapter, Gladwell breaks down the events that led to the crash of Avianca
flight 052 seven years prior. He mentions that instead of using the word “emergency”
as the captain had told him to do, the first officer of the plane instead says
that the plane was “running out of fuel,” which the air traffic controller “just
took as a passing comment” (Gladwell 193). It was concluded that perhaps the
first officer communicated in that manner because of the way his culture values
and respects those in authority. This is called the “Power Distance Index”
(PDI). He further connects this to KAL flight 801 as before the airline was
reformed, it was implied that, “’the captain is in charge and does what he
wants’” (214). This mindset had prevented those in charge of the flight to take
action, which in turn lead to disaster. Gladwell compares the two crashes in order
to emphasize the idea that one’s principles and the ways of their culture has
power over their decisions and the way they go about success. From this section,
I understood that this way of thinking can either set us back or set us
forward. I chose this section because I found this chapter to be thought-provoking, and it reminded me that when in times of emergency, you may have to defy those in authority and do what is right in order to succeed at what you want or need to do.
I agree with you that this chapter was thought-provoking. The fact that culture correlates with the respect for authority is something, that I would have never thought of prior to reading this book. All cultures have different speech interpretations and is why we see differences in rules regarding how we speak to authority figures. Overall, culture has a large impact on the way we behave and act, which can affect our success.
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