Outliers: The Story of Success

I am in the midst of a wonderful book that I'd recommend, about the "story of success." it takes a look at people who have become rich or successful or good at something (sports, academics, business), and picks it apart, talking about statistics, birth dates, time in history, resources, family ties or lack thereof, cultural situations, and etc; then he applies it to why some people become successful and why perhaps others do not. it's a very compelling book.

I found a particular chapter on the Korean Air Crash epidemic in the 80s and early 90s to be especially interesting, as they talked about how language shapes how we think/interact and communicate with each other on a cultural level and inter-culturally. he discusses how the USA has one of the lowest if not at the very far end of power dynamic stratification, where the individual sees him/herself as its peers/boss' equals and communicates in that way, and how Korea is #2 on the opposite end, only behind Brazil. Koreans flaunt their superiority, and there are rules about how 2 people interact w/ each other-language and inference and even body language is completely dependent on the nature of ones status to the other. there's even a different word 'dongsang' for little brother, and big brother, 'Opa,' which deserves more respect and requires a completely different language code. Anyway, back to the book, Outliers.
I read this chapter with great interest, seeing exactly where he was going the entire time with his point. I knew the reason for the crash before he even got to it, because I have seen these kinds of conversations and how they go between a Westerner and a Korean, one in which the Westerner will say something directly, and the Korean will find it to be 'rude,' or too direct. Or oppositely, a Korean will make a passive statement only one time and expect that the western person will make the proper connections and do the "right" thing, and come to the Korean's expected conclusion, but our minds don't work that way and we just get frustrated and there's a lot of drama and conflict as a result.
And of course, there's my favorite, when you offer something to a Korean that they really want, but their culture insists that they must say no, which means gives the offerer an opportunity to flaunt their generosity by offering two more times--while the receiver gets to flaunt their modesty--finally, the arguing comes to a conclusion--satisfying for Korean folks, but for someone like me, leaves me feeling impatient and annoyed, as if I'm playing a role in a confusing game where no one exactly explained the rules.

Anyway, read the book. here's a passage I very much enjoyed the author is talking about 'pilots' here, but really, it could be anything. I definitely see it applying to my lifestyle here in Korea as a professional educator:

"When we understand what it means to be a good pilot; when we understand how much the culture and history and the world outside of the individual matter to the professional success, then we don't have to throw our hands up in despair at an airline where pilots crash planes into the sides of mountains. We have a way to make successes out of the unsuccessful. But first, we have to be frank about a subject that we would all too often rather ignore. "