Definition of OUTLIER
noun | out·li·er
- A thing situated away or detached from the main system
- Significant change or mismeasurement.
- Data value (The Chicago Booth way 🙂 ) that falls outside the shape of the distribution for that variable. It indicates a special case that might be worth further investigation.
* An outlier can be an unusual, important observation.
As Malcolm Gladwell puts it in his book, Outliers … individuals need to commit 10,000 hours of dedicated practice to truly master a skill such as playing the violin, computer programming, or skateboarding.
You may be asking yourself what is this person writing about… or I have already read Outliers so why are you summarizing this book? Well, I am glad you asked! So let’s start with a simple thought….
What if we combined these simple definitions and added a 49,000+ strong alumni base in nearly 120 countries worldwide?
The Chicago Booth alumni are our (current students’) “Outliers.” At Chicago Booth, we pride ourselves in our “Pay It Forward” culture and helping all “Boothies” and this has been evident from my point of view since day one.
Some of the readers of the TBE blog may know my story but if not, then I will take second to explain.
After working for Deloitte Consulting LLP. I went to work at Kucetekela Foundation in Lusaka, Zambia, which was a startup that provides scholarships and educational services to Zambian government scholarships. During my time in Zambia, I volunteered at a financial platform that provided small and medium sized enterprises with working capital and corporate governance to scale businesses throughout the country and create jobs. Through this experience, I was introduced to how private capital can positively impact a local community so I wrote my b-school essays on working in the private equity space on the African continent.
To show you how our “Outliers” pave the way for Chicago Booth students and “Pay It Forward” every day, I have two short stories to share with you.
Once, I was admitted to Chicago Booth, the hunt was on for a Pre-MBA internship through cold calling and emailing Booth alumni about opportunities. Fortunately, I was blessed to land an internship with Vistria Group on the healthcare team, which was started by a Booth alum, Marty Nesbitt, ’91. My immediate bosses were also Booth alumni: Amy Christensen, ’11, and Adnan Nisar, ’11. The Pre-MBA summer internship was simply “amazing” and I couldn’t have had a better introduction to the “Pay It Forward” culture that Chicago Booth offers each and every student.
Another success story of how Booth alumni are the foundation of our school’s legacy starts with an extraordinary woman named Samantha Pokroy, ’04, who is the CEO and founder of Sanari Capital in Johannesburg. This past summer I worked for Samantha as her summer associate. She was coming to Chicago to fundraise for our newest private equity firm and three days prior, I had sent her an email to speak about her fund over the phone (no clue she was coming to the US) and to my surprise, she agreed to meet with me about her firm.
What was supposed to be a 30-minute conversation turned into a full on job interview. Soon after (couple of weeks), I had an offer in my hand. So, I credit my entrance into private equity to the generosity and willingness of a Chicago Booth alum to see my true potential.
The “Pay It Forward” nature of Chicago Booth students, past and present, is what our b-school is all about. Booth faculty and staff are vital as well, but students are unique in that they will forever fill a role—whether they are current students or long graduated. Many of our alumni find themselves involved with Booth on campus or in some capacity such as recruiting Booth students for full-time positions or speaking at a Booth sponsored conference.
One may ask why do Booth alumni “Pay It Forward”? Well… Malcolm Gladwell said it best in his book Outliers, “No one – not rock stars, not professional athletes, not software billionaires, not even geniuses-ever makes it alone. “
This article is dedicated to the Chicago Booth alum worldwide but more specifically Samantha Pokroy, Amy Christensen, Adnan Nisar, Marty Nesbitt & Sheena White
