I’m reading the excellent book Outliers by Gladwell, it’s a fascinating analysis of success and how it happens, interwoven with biographies, history, psychology, science and social research. Some of the most interesting and engaging topics to read about. Reading the paragraph below just now made a lot of sense to me, especially after I was talking to a friend yesterday over some beers and German food. And ended up “complaining” to him that I find it difficult to detach myself from the markets and the research and projects I’m involved in. I tend to only do that when I’m on vacation. This wasn’t always the case. Back when I was working for the man, from 6pm and on weekends I couldn’t care less about work. The following snipet from the story about the Borgenicht, a poor Jewish immigrant family arriving in New York in the turn of the previous century pretty much explains why.

When Borgenicht came home at night to his children, he may have been tired and poor and overwhelmed, but he was alive. He was his own boss. He was responsible for his own decisions and direction. His work was complex: it engaged his mind and imagination. And in his work, there was a relationship between effort and reward: the longer he and Regina stayed up at night sewing aprons, the more money they made the next day on the streets.
Those three things — autonomy, complexity, and a connection between effort and reward—are, most people agree, the three qualities that work has to have if it is to be satisfying. It is not how much money we make that ultimately makes us happy between nine and five. It’s whether our work fulfills us.

Eventually the Borgenichts’ business they started in their $8 a month apartment with one sewing machine became one of the largest manufacturers of clothing in the US.

Good news for ebook readers, Kindle International Edition is now available to overseas customers outside the US (for $20 extra on top of the US price). Well at least to some of us. A brief check of countries in Asia shows you can get it if you live in: Hong Kong, Philippines, Vietnam, Bhutan and Mongolia but not in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea or China. Probably has to do with the books delivery method over the phone network and working with local providers to support/allow that. Still, it’s a move in the right direction.