Vivek Ranadivé has no basketball experience, and the players on his team aren’t particularly talented. Setting out to examine the nature of underdog stories, Gladwell turns to Vivek Ranadivé, an Indian immigrant who lives in California and becomes the coach of his daughter Anjali’s basketball team. What’s more, David wins because his smaller size allows him act fast, and the fact that he’s not a trained warrior forces him to think outside the box, which is how he comes up with the idea of using a projectile to slay Goliath. To illustrate this, he notes that Goliath fails because he’s too large to react to David’s projectile.

Conversely, some disadvantages can actually become beneficial. Gladwell argues that this story is informative because it not only demonstrates that underdogs can beat “giants,” but that the very qualities that make a person powerful are often the qualities that lead to defeat. The projectile strikes Goliath in the forehead and sends him to the ground, and David uses this opportunity to pick up Goliath’s sword and cut off the giant’s head. David runs into the valley carrying nothing but his staff and several smooth stones, which he puts in a sling and sends hurtling through the air. King Saul tries to dissuade David, but he eventually agrees to send him because nobody else will go. At first, none of the Israelites want to face Goliath because he’s so large, but then a small shepherd boy named David volunteers. Neither army wants to advance for fear of rendering themselves vulnerable, so the Philistines send Goliath-their largest warrior-to engage in one-on-one combat. Gladwell begins by recounting the battle of David and Goliath, an Old Testament story which takes place when the Israelites and the Philistines encounter each other in the valley of Elah.

David goliath gladwell