Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers

I started to listen to Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers on my journey this weekend. I think we are just about through chapter 4. Thus far I am enjoying the book, and I find myself a bit startled and at his perspectives. The notion that success is not based solely on merit and personal achievement is at the same time a radical one and an understandable one. As I have been reflecting on my own life, and the things that I have done and not done, I can see with clarity that much of my journey is a product of opportunities seized and missed. That my "success" in life is largely due to the communities that I have found myself a part of and continue to find myself a part of. What is interesting is that we continue as a society to operate on the basis of rewarding individual merit as the most significant factor in recognizing success.

Take for example the beginning of Transcend Coffee. Many would look at Transcend simply as a product of my "hard work" and passion. At first blush this might appear to be correct, but in truth, I know better. I look back at the genesis of Transcend and see so many factors, "coincidences", opportunities which enabled me to both conceive and initiate the journey which is now Transcend.

To begin, at the very beginning, I happened to have a conversation about starting a cafe with people at a time in my life where the prospect of doing it wasn't such a stretch. At the time I was working as an independent consultant, and only working three days a week, so I had a couple of days a week to dedicate to learning and exploring the possibility of getting into coffee. My work just happened to take me to Vancouver every couple of months, where I was fortunate to establish a relationship with JJ Bean, where I was able to get some barista training, and learn the fundamentals of roasting. Further, when I was first starting to think seriously about starting Transcend, I was working towards a cafe, wine bar and roastery, and I was negotiating on a space to that effect. After about a 8 months of negotiating, the deal fell through. This pushed me into a space which was only going to enable us to roast coffee, and the wine thing fell to the side. At the time I was frustrated with this development, but as it turns out, it forced me to focus, and that focus has enabled Transcend to develop into a company which is known for its quality, in a way which we never would have been if we had been involved in wine and food as well.

The single minded focus on coffee and quality coffee has resulted in a journey which I never imagined when I first started Transcend. It has attracted a whole host of amazing people who have joined me on my journey, which continues to be influenced by opportunities which both drive us and direct us in certain ways and not others. So even this brief look back at the early history of Transcend demonstrates that the success of Transcend is not just about Poul's hard work and intrinsic talent. It has to do with a guy who happened to be at the right place at the right time, and was presented with an opportunity. Obviously Gladwell doesn't dismiss the idea of natural talent, but he definitely dismisses the notion that we succeed solely on the basis of our natural talents. So at the end of this little post, I encourage you to read Outliers (or listen to it like I am doing) and then think about your own journey, and recognize how your life is a product of the people and opportunities which you have seized or rejected. I know that even with a few days of reflection, I am seeing my own world in a new light.