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Malcolm Gladwell on re-imagining the underdog

Writer Malcolm Gladwell believes people are too rigid in their thinking about what constitutes an advantage -- in his new book "David and Goliath", Gladwell argues that Davids aren't always underdogs -- they can change the world.
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Malcolm Gladwell says we've been taking the wrong lessons from David and Goliath. David was equipped with modern weaponry. Goliath's every advantage was his undoing. Mr. Gladwell shares the stories he's gathered that show disadvantages as true advantages.


Writer Malcolm Gladwell celebrates the people we think of as underdogs or disadvantaged

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In his new book 'David and Goliath', Malcolm
Gladwell argues that Davids aren't always
underdogs - they can change the world.

"David and Goliath has entered our language as a metaphor for improbable victories by some weak party over someone far stronger. Everything I thought I knew about that story turned out to be wrong".Malcolm Gladwell, author of "David and Goliath"

Most of us are moved by stories of rags to riches, of overcoming disabilities, of personal triumph when many predicted failure. However Malcolm Gladwell believes people have too rigid an idea of what it means to be disadvantaged. Poverty, small size, a learning disability ... all can be secret weapons.

Malcolm Gladwell turns the concept of the underdog around in his new book David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants. He was in New York City.


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This segment was produced by The Current's Lara O'Brien.

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