Examination of the David and Goliath Myth - Term Paper Example

Examination of the David and Goliath myth  Introduction With reference to David’s approach on the fight with Goliath,it can be observed that the underdogs can utilize their unconventional ways to defeat the advantageous opponents. Gladwell explains how Coach Vivek Randive of Redwood City utilized his team’s weaknesses to win the Girls Junior High basketball championships (Gladwell 76). In junior-high girls’ basketball, running a full-court press was employed during the last quarter of the game. Randive unconventionally employed the full-court press technique from the beginning to the end of the game. The defending coaches were astonished on how they could be defeated by such an underdog that had no much experience in the basketball game. Furthermore, Coach Randive’s ‘underdog’ team kept winning game after game due to their improvised strategy. The strategy can be equated to the technique that was adopted by David to defeat the powerful Goliath. The paper seeks to expound on how the mechanisms that can be employed by an individual or an organization to enjoy profound benefits by proper utility of the perceived challenges, weaknesses or disadvantages. Based on Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘The Advantages of Disadvantages and the Disadvantages of Advantages’ Book, the author begins by outlining the benefits of being in the disadvantaged category. Gladwell alludes from the biblical story of David and Goliath to show how an individual can succeed through strategic decision-making and creativity especially when the opponent is perceived to be powerful. In essence, the bible highlights the story of David defeating Goliath, a mighty giant-soldier, with only a sling and a stone (Gladwell 24). Gladwell tries to reveal how people misread the battles between ‘giants’ and ‘underdogs’ in most in the olden and modern world. A critical analysis of the David and Goliath story reveals that David was the giant, and Goliath the underdog. Gladwell notes that there is a disadvantage in the perceived advantaged classroom setups. He elaborates the situation using the inverted U curve Theory. Using the theory, it is clear that majority of American parents prefer small classrooms to large ones. The U curve theory provides that most people prefer working in small groups. However, people choosing to work in small groups do not consider the disadvantages associated with small numbers. Using the U curve theory, Gladwell notes that most American Schools brag about their small sized classrooms that allow provide maximum teacher-student interactions (Gladwell 97). Gladwell notes that the schools might be disillusioned since there are certain disadvantages associated with such setups. Small class size does not give students a wide exposure to the world of reality through discussions. Essentially, the discussions in small class size are minimal and, therefore, limit students’ interactions in the learning environment. Gladwell adopts the Little Pond Theory to explain the freedom of disadvantage. Gladwell argues that people underestimate the power vested in them and, therefore, do not realize the potential they have. He gives an example of how the above-average students think that they are bright and should score high grades (Gladwell 134). In addition, the above average students tend to choose only institutions or courses which have a better reputation or ranking. To their shock, the institutions or courses contain valedictorians that provide uniformity to all students. The author explains some desirable difficulties in people’s endeavors. The major argument by the author is based on the effects of dylexia disorder, tragic events and its consequences to human being. According to the author, the disorder affects the ability to read and understand texts. In addition, most victims diagnosed with the disorder are perceived as underdogs since they cannot perform some tasks. However, a critical analysis of the issue reveals that it is not true in the real sense. Gladwell illustrates how successful people utilized the disorder disadvantage to achieve great goals in life. He gives an example of David Boies, a renowned lawyer with dyslexia disorder. After realizing he had difficulties in reading at the early ages, the lawyer read even harder, listened deeply thereby making his memory his biggest strength. Another example given by the author is Gary Cohn. After accepting his failures, Gary Cohn molded his life to become more fun and easier. At one point, Gary Cohn made a fateful decision to enter into a taxi with a high ranking stock-broker (Gladwell 156). After an hour, he deceived the stock broker that he was a successful option-trader and this landed him a job and a stock-trading opportunity. Apart from beneficial disorders, Gladwell further adds on the advantages of tragic events. Based on its nature, the author notes that some people conquer the tragic experiences due to their stern actions, sense of invincibility and perseverance. A notable example is Dr. Emil Freireich who become successful leader in the medical field based on the hardship of his upbringing. After the Great Depression, his father committed suicide while his mother became a work-slave at a sweatshop where he and his brother were left to look after themselves. Freireich channeled his loneliness and anger towards his medical career. Dr. Freireich lacked sympathy and also had a harsh temper on his patients as well as their families (Gladwell 182). While at the National Cancer Institute working for the leukemia case, he pushed for dangerous and rare medical methods. However, after his unconventional and stern approaches, Dr. Freireich successfully discovered the treatment of childhood leukemia. People’s perception to failure and weakness can be a major milestone in future success and growth. In essence, success is a journey that starts from an unknown point and ends in unfathomed destination. Apparently, success is a complex subject to address since there exist numerous strategies that can be used to achieve success (Gladwell 96|). For instance, some sports team and other organized groups choose to stick to the old formulas despite the emergence of new conventional techniques. An evaluation of the factors that drive sports teams and other organized groups to continue using the old formulas or techniques reveals that a variety of reasons contribute to the practice. For instance, old formulas have been tested, and the outcomes are known. Moreover, the structures and policies of utilizing the old formulas or techniques are already established and, therefore, it becomes easy to apply. It is imperative to recognize that the underdogs seek new approaches of doing things for various motives. For instance, they want to explore the new opportunities and experience its impacts. In addition, they tend to adopt the new ways to adjust to changes and fit in the changing environment. The Redwood City style of playing basketball was up to the standard and the results achieved were quite impressive. The style was dynamic and, therefore, offered a room for application of emerging techniques in the basketball game. Essentially, almost all sectors are experiencing some aspects of change and new developments. Therefore, the approach employed for doing daily activities should be structured such that the dynamism of change is recognized. In essence, the coach developed techniques that gave the players an opportunity of exploring their talents and capabilities in the basketball game. The decision by the coach was very creative and proved that challenges can be used to upscale performance. In essence, the performance gives an insight that people can use their disadvantages to excel in their endeavors. Redwood City defeat at the nationals was fueled by a variety of factors. For instance, the team was confident that it will perform well since the previous performance was outstanding. As a result, the coach never put extra efforts on training the players since the team’s experience showed a promising future performance. Moreover, the team did not incorporate some modern skills in the game. The team was overconfident about the success of unconventional techniques used in previous matches (Gladwell 105). In essence, the team did not consider the fact that the national challenge was more dynamic compared to the previous competition. Research has shown that national competitions are usually challenging since the teams involved have prolific players and a history of success. In essence, most teams in the national competitions have almost similar skills and, therefore, a team has to introduce unique techniques to emerge the winner. Therefore, the RedWood City failed to induce new and unique techniques to the game and thereby ended up losing the match. The unconventional strategies can never be relied upon solely since they are not always effective. For instance, the skills and approaches used to solve the problems experienced in daily life change from time to time. Therefore, there is no a ccommon method that can be trusted for addressing all the challenges facing human beings. Likewise, the playing techniques and skills keeps on changing and, therefore, the tradition methods cannot be accorded maximum trust since they are somehow rigid when it comes to adjusting to changes. In essence, change of playing strategies is an inevitable practice since new tactics and policies emerge from time to time. A team should always be updated on the changes in the techniques and systems that exist in the basketball game. In this regard, coaches should try many techniques to have several alternatives that can be used to overpower the opponent. During competitions, every time wishes to emerge the winner and employs all the known mechanisms to become victorious. Therefore, a team should never over rely on a single strategy to increase the chances of winning. Instead, the coach should liaise with the team members and develop strategies that can accommodate a variety of playing techniques. In essence, every person should be involved in the transformational strategy of the team to build the culture of good performance. Hunter (8) reveals that the population size of an area has various influence on the social, political and economic settings of the neighborhood. In essence, an increase of the population results in overutilization of the available resources. Therefore, people are forced to free to the neighborhood to find solutions to the challenges they face. However, a small population size in an area is manageable and enhance effective use of the available resources. Apparently, the class size in my middle school was small and every students had access to the teachers and library materials. In addition, the size was manageable and is among the factors that contributed to the outstanding performance in the final exams. Essentially, research has shown that small classes are better than big class sizes since the students have sufficient time with the teachers. Conclusion Based on Gladwell’s citation, Desirable Difficulties and Freedom of Disadvantage (Little Pond Effect) are the most important and problematic claims. Desirable Difficulties constitute traffic events and health disorders like dyslexia which subsequently influence the victims ‘underdogs’ to become creative and prosperous. Freedom of Disadvantage can cause the successful individuals (Big Fish) to appear unimportant or the insignificant people (Small Fish) to appear important respective of the individuals the course of action, hence, the Little Pond Effect. The use of unconventional methods like in David’ s Goliath defeat, Coach Randive basketball wins and Wyatt trickster methods, necessitated the transformation of their disadvantages into advantages. Works cited: Gladwell, Malcolm. Part One: The Advantages of Disadvantages and the Disadvantages of Advantages. David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants. New York: Little, Brown, 2013. Print. Top of Form Hunter, Lori. The Environmental Implications of Population Dynamics. Santa Monica, CA: Rand, 2000. Print. Bottom of Form Read More