Categories: Articles

The Culture Of Malcolm Gladwell

I know this first hand. Not because I know him personally (although, we have met many times). Not because I know anything behind the scenes (although we do share the same book publisher). I know this, because prior to the launch of his last book, David And Goliath, I found myself in HMV (the famed record store), as the struggling retailer was diversifying their merchandising away from physical music into areas like t-shirts, headphones, music paraphernalia and even books. I was amazed to see Malcolm Gladwell’s previous efforts (The Tipping Point, Blink, etc…) alongside rock music biographies. What made this so interesting is that Gladwell’s book were, basically, the one business books there.

That’s when Malcolm Gladwell became an anomaly.

The staff writer at The New Yorker, and world-renowned non-fiction business writer was a rock star. His work was now front and center with the work of The Rolling Stones and Bob Marley. This feeling of stardom was further validated, when I was flying to Toronto from New York City and the flight attendant remarked that another passenger was reading one of Gladwell books to the other flight attendant. A conversation ensued about how Gladwell can frequently be found on this flight (he grew up in Ontario), and how cute he is (and how wild his hair is). They were not discussing the quality of his writing, but his quirky, cool and sexy looks.

Some authors have all the luck.

Prior to launching his last book, David And Goliath (which was published in 2013), Jon Ronson spent time with Gladwell in his New York home to talk about his latest work for something called The Culture Show. I had not come across this mini-documentary until now. If you’re interested in creativity, culture and what it takes to write when you’re at the top of your game, this is a fascinating piece of documentary glory. With that, anybody with an interest in business and marketing will love it too.

Here it is: The Culture Show – Jon Ronson Meets Malcolm Gladwell…

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.