Outliers

I am off to NJ to meet with the CEO of American Standard Brands (ASB), Don Devine. Don and ASB are really great clients of my company GEF. They are big supporters of our Green Building Course for high school students (a burgeoning area for career and technical high schools).

At the Boston Logan Airport I perused the business book section for the flight and immediately, literally within seconds, honed in on Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell. I loved reading his books: The Tipping Point and Blink and after quickly scanning some of the quotes on the front inside cover, I purchase it.

In reading Part One: Opportunity, it detailed how successful people really don’t rise from nothing, that they in fact are the ‘“beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities….that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways that others cannot.”  

To that end, Gladwell goes onto to showcase the Canadian hockey phenomenon as a key example to this statement. It seems that boys born from Jan 2 - March (i.e. right after Jan 1  which is the official Canadian eligibility cut off for age-class hockey) are, at a staggering rate, the stars of the game. Why this is so is that a boy who turns 10 on Jan. 2 has 12 months more to develop and mature versus those who are born prior to the Jan 1 cut off.  With a year growing advantage they are bigger and more coordinated and therefore more apt to be recruited.

So what does this mean? It means that a boy born after Jan 1 plays 50-75 games more per season versus his younger counterparts. He also receives the benefit of extra and better training and experiences which in fact make him a better player. So it wasn’t really due to the fact that he was bigger that made him better, he was selected because he was bigger and all the extra training and ice time made him better. The day he was born was his hidden advantage which brought him extraordinary opportunities. 

So what does this have to do with me and my riding? Well, it made me instantly realize that I do not have the early age advantage (hmmm...or did I?). So I started thinking about what hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities I have had and have now. Following is a list of what I came up with:

My hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities:

1)       I was given a pony and learned to ride when I was five and even though I never received professional training, I developed a natural seat and ability that I still have to this day.

2)      My pony (and later my horse) was kept in my back yard providing me the opportunity to ride whenever I wanted.

3)      I grew up in Florida which afforded optimal riding conditions year-round. Because we lived across the street from the bay and around the corner from the reservoir, on hot days we would literally go swimming on our horses. Note: this was also a great way to wash off all of the sticky orange juice we got covered with when the eating oranges while riding through the orange groves.

4)      Because my best friends, who were also my neighbors, had horses too, the primary form of recreation that I participated in growing up was, of course riding. I calculated that I spent nearly 5,000 hours riding between the ages of five and fifteen.

5)      Because my horse Nehi (named after the soda as he was a strawberry roan) was very spirited it forced me to think fast, develop a sturdy seat and a solid command of my horse.

6)      Because I learned how to control a very hot horse, it made me somewhat fearless. This has stayed with me, for the most part, to this day which is why I want to jump a prix.

7)      Fast forward to 2011: Due to a successful career in sales, I was able to afford a very good horse giving me an early advantage albeit at a late age, by having a superior jumper at the onset of my professional training.  

8)      Because a stable was built nearly across the street from where live, travel time to get there is inconsequential.

9)      Because the stable has an enclosed riding arena, I can ride any day I choose even while living in New England with its harsh weather conditions (cold winters, hot humid summers, heavy rainfall, and windy days). OK, so there are more gorgeous days than bad in New England and that is when I take advantage of the full outdoor arena and 700 acres of trails abutting the farm.

10)   Because with the stable, came excellent instruction in my Irish trainer which means that I don’t even have to travel for my training, except for a clinic here and there and of my summer trips to Germany.

11)   Given that I am an “early to bed and early to rise” practitioner, I ride at 5:30 every morning and am back in time to get my kids to school and off to work without skipping a beat.

12)   Because of the fact that I run my own company, I dictate my own schedule which means that I can lesson whenever I want; I just adjust my schedule accordingly.

13)   Because I am my own boss, I can take two weeks off to train in Germany, like I did last summer.

14)   Because my daughter rides too, it is a shared passion and I am her hero and role model which motivates me even further.

15)   Because my son is 13, I am teaching him responsibility and farm work through watering the horses and sweeping the stable aisles every weekend. The goal is to have him groom for me by spring show season.  OK, so this is not a hidden advantage or extraordinary opportunity, it just makes me happy to teach him farm work and to be around and appreciate animals.

So to summarize my hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities, I guess I have a few.