Ranadivé coached a team of girls who had no talent in a sport he knew nothing about. He was an underdog and a misfit, and that gave him the freedom to try things no one else even dreamed of.
-- Author (Chapter 1 paragraph Page 37)

Importance: The author is making his fundamental thesis – that being a misfit or underdog frees a person of the restrictions imposed upon them by experience and training. The person can think outside the box for an innovative way to achieve success.

When there are too few students in a room, the chances that children are surrounded by a critical mass of other people like them start to get really low. Taken too far, class-size reduction steals away the peers that struggling students learn from.
-- Jesse Levin (Chapter 2 paragraph Page 59)

Importance: This is an excerpt from economist’s Jesse Levin’s work on academic performance. It captures one of the reasons that small class size is not always a...