Only Malcolm Gladwell could bring Fleetwood Mac into the design discussion and make wonderful sense. In his enlightening talk about innovation and misconceptions about what it takes to become a success, Gladwell uses this unlikely metaphor for creative synthesis in an entertaining entrée into the concepts of his forthcoming book, Outliers. Genius and creativity don’t necessarily spring forth unbidden, he says; they require time and support to experiment, to try and even fail. During this time of economic crisis and eventual renewal, he hopes that the design community will be able to “rediscover the true roots of creativity and innovation.”
Malcolm Gladwell has been a staff writer with The New Yorker magazine since 1996. His 1999 profile of Ron Popeil won a National Magazine Award, and in 2005 he was named one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People.” He is the author of two books, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Make a Big Difference, (2000) and Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (2005), both of which were number one New York Times bestsellers. From 1987 to 1996, Gladwell was a reporter with the Washington Post, where he covered business and science, and then served as the newspaper’s New York City bureau chief. He graduated from the University of Toronto, Trinity College, with a degree in history. He was born in England, grew up in rural Ontario, and now lives in New York City.
