>> his the provocateur behind some of the big ideas of our time. a creator of a sort of pop science. an unofficial but incredibly influential set of laws that govern human behavior. between five new york times bestsellers in two decades at the new yorker, and occam gladwell has inspired, inflamed, criticalexed the most of readers. joining me is author, journalist, and thought-provoking or malcolm gladwell. in your latest book "david and

goliath, those quote ," you speak with cancer researchers and civil rights leaders. what can a tech ceo take from this? --it is the more efficient overcoming disadvantages could be a more efficient way of learning crucial skills than applying advantages. for those willing to face up to the challenge, adversity is extraordinarily powerful as a teaching tool. a faster way to get from a to b then coming to the table with all kinds of advantages. >> who do you see as the david and goliath's of technology act ? >> what is fantastic is how quickly companies transition from being underdogs to goliath.

we are used to the trajectory of microsoft starts and it takes 15 years to go from the upstart to the monolith. feel like it's a matter of a couple of years --facebook went from nowhere to being a dominant player. this kind of trajectory where at ae go from being perceived disadvantage to being suddenly saddled with all of the attributes of the goliath. now it's been sped up. your bookson war, got caught in the middle. how do you feel about this? >> it cost me a lot of money. that's for sure. little.s my heart a i thought of amazon as a partnership. and for a company to try to make a business point by turning its -- i have sold through

millions of books. i have contributed mightily to their bottom line. wouldd've thought they see me as an asset. me and other writers have brought people to their site in droves. and they have turned on us. is, to say the least, a puzzling strategy for a business to turn on their assets. and this self-destructive nature of this particular strategy. cheaper.must be >> to get to that preferred outcome, they have chosen to

wringing revenue to their business and customers to their site. >> if it is going to be disrupted, the answer is absolutely. will i have the same arrangement for this book that i had for the last one? unlikely. -- iavid and goliath had can imagine a world without traditional publishers but i can't imagine a world without traditional bookstores. ensures the continued physical bookstore. you said it has impacted your sales.

you were born in england, the son of a professor and the therapist. >> if you think about my father representing the analytical side and my mother representing the side of technology, my work is to infuse those things. >> where the dispatch it to think critically come from? >> i was aboard child. -- a bored child. i had all this time on my hands and i was forced to imagine this world for myself. you studied history at the university of toronto. what was your first job? what were you writing about in

your early days? i was working at a little magazine. i moved to washington dc and it kind of freelance for a variety of odd jobs. it was basically serendipitous. it was a lucky break random choice. a lucky break? that's the result of some pretty hard work. >> one of the mistakes we all , we overestimate our qualifications and choices and underestimate the role of simple good fortune. >> have you involved your conclusions?

have you changed? >> you believe the same thing you believe 15 years ago, you are a joke. you are a fossil. ♪

>> there are myths about some of the greatest creators that are boiled down in the legend. what are some myths of malcolm gladwell? i am just about as boring and pedestrian in my life as i appear to be in my public life. >> the tipping point was your first best-selling book. you said you had no idea how big it would become. the thing that, do you understand? >> i don't. otherks and books of many people caught a specific wave, i think, of the last 20 years.

which is there was this emerging businesspersons demanding a higher level of sophistication thinking about this new world. but why my book was chosen above -- i haven'trs read it in 20 years. i have no idea how it stands up. moreu went on to write for books, all bestsellers. outliers, what the dog saw it, david and goliath. involved your -- evolve d your conclusions? same you still believe the thing you believe 15 years ago, you are a joke. a fossil. was once crazy i

about and now think is kind of incomplete or juvenile or immature. >> like white? >> there are many cases where you have a responsibility as a thinking person to constantly revisit and revise what you believe. the minute you are unwilling to contradict things you've believed in the past, you cease to be a thinking person. >> would you rewrite all of the books if you could? leisure, i would absolutely go back and revisit and reshape and reargue things because we know so much more. >> has your life adapted? >> a little bit. i was so impressed about the potential for bias and dysfunction in our snap judgment that i very actively try to question.

, spendingt people time to understand people's behavior from their perspective. that has the chapters had great impact is from outliers were you present a study of canadian hockey players and the oldest players are the best players. it triggered a nationwide phenomenon where parents are holding their kids back. should they be doing this? >> the observation is that among kids, the difference between a december kid is considerable which makes sense. parents appropriately have said i don't want my kid disadvantaged. never have to come down to parents acting. the school should step up and say in grades one through five we will separate kids by their month of birth. the fact that schools don't do this blows my mind. what are they doing?

if you are faced with the school being so dumb about the evidence then by all means take action into your own hands. it doesn't solve the problem though. >> my kid is a september kid. when he's around older kids, he's more inspired and more engaged. this observation is most pertinent for kids that have other problems. those already facing a series of socioeconomic or cognitive struggles. >> you're arguing a disadvantage can become an advantage and you have parents giving their kids an artificial advantage. are those ideas counter to each other? no, they are supposed to be in parallel. is idea of david and goliath that our understanding of advantage needs to be much more sophisticated so that there are when givingsions someone more resources or removing an obstacle helps them.

and there are also occasions when it doesn't. if they were contradictory, i would be fine with that. we need to get away from the only validdeas are when they are fundamentally consistent. what people do with their brains is mull over inconsistencies. it's when two ideas are in conflict and you have to struggle to make sense of that when thinking starts. how do you view the power and the influence that you have? over how the public interprets it? >> i think it's important not to overstate it. i am someone who writes books. i see myself as contributing to healthy conversation in our society. ragingm not such a

narcissist to think that i am in control of that conversation. >> i know you are aware of the criticisms of your books. unoriginal, obvious, the story comes first, the science plays a supporting role. .vergeneralize, oversimplified how do you respond to that. >> i don't really think of them as criticism. first and the sciences secondary because i come first.ries to story is an incredibly powerful way to communicate ideas. are my books simplify? of course. they are supposed to be. i spent a huge amount of time simplifying. i put my head in my hands and say, that is my intention. if i didn't simplify them, people wouldn't read them. >> critics say don't take him so seriously. >> i would say exactly right.

chill out. ideas ought to be a source of joy. that is supposed to be something that brings you pleasure. you can write whatever you want at the new yorker and how do you choose topics? why do you write essays when you could write books? >> new yorker story is the most demanding literary form. it is much harder to write a new yorker story than a book. i am very light to the game here but i don't want to write a book about it. but would it be the kernel of a great article? absolutely. journalistseen start their own companies. why not do something like that? >> because i would be terrible

at it. i have to wake up too early in the morning, there are all kinds of very good reasons for me to steer clear of that. the nfl hast how handled some of these domestic violence issues? >> this is a sport that is living in the past that has no connection, i think, to the realities of the game right now. and no real connection to american society. ♪

>> one of the subjects he wrote about is the nfl. , because of concussions, only poor athletes that want to play the game. is the nfl doing enough with current players? >> no. i think the sport is a moral abomination.

i think they are in need of some kind of assistance. incurring an injury that will significantly impact their life, can you point to another industry. over the course of doing -- this isemains untenable. we're not talking about people ending at the age of 50. we are talking about brain injuries that are causing horrible protracted and premature deaths. >> what about the handle of the domestic violence issues? >> this is a sport that is living in the past and has no

connection, i think, to the .eality they are socializing young men into a culture of violence. is it at all surprising that you see the kind of corollary social damage surrounding players that we see? not at all surprising. they are off on this 19th century trajectory. >> the ray rice case, he ended up getting suspended for three weeks. >> it was totally the wrong decision. if a sports columnist in a

-- can'tan't call exercise free speech. calling him a liar is not like it came out of nowhere. fromeasonable conclusion the whole ray rice saga is that the commissioner of the nfl knew about the existence of the videotape and was lying about it. if he did, but it's a reasonable conclusion. thought sports columnists in expressing their opinions are allowed to draw conclusions. i thought it was an embarrassing moment. think it will start to shrivel up at the high school and college level and then the program will eventually wither on the vine.

the biggestne of sports in this country in the 20's and 30's. ?> what about print media does it develop? or decline? >> i think we are entering a golden age for media. there is more media and more variety and more sophistication now than there ever has been in the past. in a little be window of time where we are trying to figure out the business models for a lot of it but we will. by moreyorker is read people than it was in the past. is, is there aon desire and a demand among the reading public for in-depth journalism? the answer is, absolutely. >> how do you make your own distinctive environment? own will follow my curiosity and if nobody wants to follow along, that's too bad.

i enjoy learning about new stuff and i have large numbers of people that want to follow me and it's wonderful but it's not the reason i do it. i have no idea what will come of it. the tv show has yet to be determined. >> what kind of television show? >> a series. >> fiction? >> yes. digression from other stuff and i will probably write another book soon. i have a bunch of things i want to write for the new yorker. it is a kind of meandering progress. >> i can't wait. thank you so much for joining us on the show.

it's really been an honor and a pleasure to have you. >> thank you. ♪

>> i'm pimm fox and this is what i'm taking stock of. they in washington dc, bloomberg era had a conference was held in some of the biggest names in business gathered to discuss the issues for next year. for mna's vice chairman . >> ceo confidence, by sites, supporting a lot of growth. initiatives and so on. stay in place,s i think you will see a steady state and plenty of m&a. >> bob pitman sounded off on the