Ben Carson and Success
Neurosurgeon Uses His Family Background, Meaningful Work, and the 10,000-Hour Rule to Think Big and Become Successful
By: Amber Knudson | Psychology Major
Ben Carson stands in the operating room with seven pediatric anesthesiologists, five neurosurgeons, two cardiac surgeons, five plastic surgeons, and many nurses and technicians. With the surgical lighting illuminating the room, and every surgical instrument in perfect order, Carson picks up the scalpel and severs the thin blue vein, the last thing connecting the twins. For the next hour, the doctors work on creating new veins for the twins. After a 22-hour surgery, Ben Carson breathes a sigh of relief. He and his team had just successfully separated two conjoined twins who were connected by the head. Patrick and Benjamin were, finally, living separately from one another (Kircher and Terris).
Carson, at 33-years old, was the youngest chief of pediatric neurosurgery in the USA. He had also held professorships in plastic surgery, oncology, and pediatrics at Johns Hopkins. In 2014, Ben Carson spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast where he became a rising star in conservative circles. By October of 2015, he was one of the front-runners in the 2016 presidential election. Even though Carson dropped out of the presidential race in March of 2016, President Trump nominated him to serve as the secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Carson has made many great achievements in his medical career, has become a fantastic motivational speaker, and made it all the way up to becoming a leading candidate for the Republican presidential nominee in 2016 (Rogers). Today, Carson has a net worth of $29 million.
However, as Outliers: The Story of Success author Malcolm Gladwell writes, “It’s not how much money we make that ultimately makes us happy between nine and five. It’s whether or not our work fulfills us.” (Outliers 149–150) Ben Carson demonstrates Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers theories about family background and meaningful work to reach 10,000 hours of practice that helped him become a world-renowned neurosurgeon.
Ben Carson’s jaw dropped to the floor. His mother stood firmly in front of the television, feet planted on the ground, so he knew she was serious. “You boys are going to go to the library and check out books. You’re going to read at least two books every week. At the end of each week, you’ll give me a report on what you’ve read.” (Angel 25:50–25:55) Two books a week sounded nearly impossible as Ben, despite being in fifth grade, had never completed a book for leisure. Ben knew that the task would get completed, not out of a desire to read, but out of respect for his mother.
Carson’s family background was not what one would expect of a world-renowned pediatric neurosurgeon. His father left when he was eight, leaving his mother to raise him and his brother, Curtis, alone. She dropped out of school after third grade, leaving her nearly illiterate. She worked two to three jobs to support her children because she wanted her children to have a better life. Every one of Ben Carson’s patients should not only thank him but his mother as well. Carson thanks his mother for his attitude and for pushing him as a child. (Carson, Gifted Hands 35).
As Ben grew up, he began to realize he was different from the other children at school. His skin color was darker than everyone else’s. People were making the assumption due to being a Black student, he was less intelligent than everyone else (Carson, Gifted Hands 30). Yet he didn’t let that hold him back. Ben easily could have given up because of his Black skin, and every possible curveball thrown at him, but giving up wasn’t an option. Carson fought tooth and nail to overcome all of the racial slurs and discriminatory events to become one of the most famous surgeons in the world.
In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell tells the story of Joe Flom, who started one of the most successful law firms but faced many difficulties due to growing up as a poor Jewish immigrant. Finding a job was challenging for Flom due to his background (Gladwell 121–124). Flom was short, ungainly, and had a flat nasal voice, all of which were characteristics that made him stand out from others. He often felt uncomfortable going to interviews in town. However, Flom didn’t let his Jewish background hold him back and instead, used it as motivation to become successful.
Ben Carson grew up facing similar challenges that were not influenced by his religion, but his race. Both Flom and Carson used their family backgrounds to overcome the odds of becoming successful in their lines of work. No one would have guessed that the nerdy African American kid who was missing every question on every quiz, would become the director of pediatric neurosurgery by the age 33.
There was only one way that Ben Carson was going to pass chemistry. His professor had a rule that if a failing student did well on the final exam, the final-test-score would count heavily on the final grade. It was 10:00 p.m. and Ben Carson sat down and began to pore through his textbook, memorizing anything that seemed the slightest bit important. While writing down formulas that held no meaning, Ben realized why he was failing. It was because of his lack of knowledge about how to study. The technique of wasting time during the semester and cramming for finals may have worked during high school but it was failing him at Yale. Ben Carson was not making his work meaningful.
That night Ben had a strange dream during which a nebulous figure was writing numerous chemistry problems on a blackboard. The next morning, as Carson recalled a lot of the problems, he wrote them down, so he wouldn’t forget about them. When it came time to take the exam, with his heart pounding, he quickly realized that the exam problems were the same as those written by the mysterious figure in his dream. After passing the exam with a 97 at the top of the class, Ben realized that God was calling him to become a doctor. Then, the decision to learn how to study properly, with an aim to not only learn the surface material but grasp everything in detail was made (Carson, Gifted Hands 79). Through this, his work began to mean something which helped him become so successful as an adult.
According to research done by Sussex University, it was found that meaningfulness was often associated with a sense of pride and achievement (Bailey 3). Three main characteristics to meaningful work are self-transcendent work, reflective work, and work that can become personal. Self-transcendent work often matters more to others rather than one’s self. Abraham Maslow even has self-transcendence at the pinnacle of his pyramid of human motivation. When someone can see the big picture of how their work will affect the world around them, it can make work more meaningful. The second example of meaningful work is a reflective work. Research shows that “meaningfulness is most often experienced in retrospect when people were able to see their completed work and make connections between their achievements and a wider sense of life meaning.” (Bailey 5) Meaningful work can often become personal. This occurs when work gets recognized and appreciated by others. This can create a feeling of trust and validity for the person who completed the appreciated work.
By understanding how his study habits were affecting his grades, Ben Carson was able to change his ways and make his work more meaningful. He realized while studying, he was only learning the bare minimum of his material, studying only what was needed for the exam. After his chemistry exam, Carson began to put more effort into how he was learning rather than just cramming right before an exam. Ben reflected on his past study habits and saw that if he continued on the path he was on, the goal of becoming a doctor would never be attained. He saw that his current study habits were going to affect his future as a student at Yale University. Once he found his calling to become a doctor, Carson knew that in order to be a more effective doctor in the future, his work needed to mean something now.
Ben Carson stands in the empty operating room after five months of intensive training and preparation for the surgery that would make or break his career. His team had rewired a section of a large operating room, giving it an emergency power supply in case of a power outage. The operating room was prepped with double of everything: two anesthesia monitors, heart-lung machines, and two tables that were side to side, ready to be divided when the twins were separated. They had spent a countless number of hours figuring out where each team member would be during the operation. “A 10-page, play-by-play book detailed each step of operation.” (Carson, Gifted Hands 206) Multiple different attempts at the surgery were made with the use of dolls that were attached at the head by velcro. By using different techniques on the dolls, Carson and his team would have more of a nuanced approach to the surgery when it came to the actual surgery. Everything he had done in his medical career up to this point gave him the unique knowledge that would help him successfully complete the separation surgery.
Dan McLaughlin, a commercial photographer quit his job and headed straight for the golf course. He was going to be testing Anders Ericsson’s theory that 10,000 hours of deliberate, efficient practice can produce international expertise (Gregory). This theory was made more popular by Malcolm Gladwell in his book, Outliers: The Story of Success. McLaughlin worked closely alongside UCLA psychology professor, Robert Bjork to use different practice techniques to help his brain learn and remember information better. People often grow up being taught that repeating the same task over and over, will improve performance. However, Bjork believes that interleaving, or mixing things up, will bear more fruit. Bjork challenges the 10,000-hour rule by stating that “the number of hours you put in might not be as important as what you do with them.” (Gregory) His theory of interleaving worked, proving that having variety can help improve recall and motor learning skills. By using the skills taught by Bjork, Dan McLaughlin showed that 10,000 hours of preparation pays off.
Ben Carson says, “the hallmark of an inefficient person is doing the same thing over and over and over again.” (Roberts) He supports Robert Bjork’s theory that interleaving will yield greater benefits. During the five months of preparation, Carson and his team searched for the “perfect way” to successfully separate the twins, Benjamin and Patrick. However, the Director of Anesthesiology, Mark Rogers, states, “The success in this operation is not just in separating the twins. Success is producing two normal children.” (Kirchner and Terris) They wanted to find a way to separate the twins and give them a normal life.
In order to successfully complete this surgery, they needed to use the 10,000-hour rule to prepare themselves. However, even though they successfully separated Benjamin and Patrick, it was found that years later, they were not “normal children”. The surgery to separate the twins was a big step forward for medical science, despite not getting the desired results. But the skills learned from their surgery, became blueprints for other doctors to follow in the future. Carson himself would go on to participate in four other similar surgeries- one of which, a 1998 surgery left both patients not only alive but neurologically normal (Kirchner and Terris).
Throughout Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers, success is defined in many different ways. However, Ben Carson provides many alternate unique ideas on how to become successful. He put together the acronym, THINK BIG, to help explain his keys to success. THINK BIG stands for Talent, Honesty, Insight, Nice, Knowledge, Books, In-depth knowledge, and God. Ben Carson states, “If you recognize your talents, use them appropriately, and choose a field that uses those talents, you will rise to the top of your field.” (Carson, Think Big 154) God has given each and every one of us unique talents. Carson’s statement doesn’t mean that someone will be the best at everything they do but with the proper use of talents, they can become excellent. Honesty is a key ingredient to success because by being dishonest, they are cheating themselves. Many times, children learn about honesty from their parents, which attributes to their family background. Everyone makes mistakes and in order to be successful, people need to be able to deal honestly with them. Insight is a deeper understanding of a person or thing. Carson’s mother constantly tried figuring out how her superiors became successful. She learned how to observe others, ask questions, and think through answers to become successful. “If we are nice to others, others respond to us in the same way, and we can give our best for each other” (Carson, Think Big 204).
On the road to success, people will consider kindness as a weakness, but in the long run, kindness will prevail. Kindness can be used to help make work more meaningful to some people. Ben Carson believes knowledge is power to overcome the past, fight obstacles, make better decisions, and that knowledge used for human good will make a difference in us and our world. Carson expresses, “If we commit ourselves to read thus increasing our knowledge, only God limits how far we can go in the world.” (Carson, Think Big 230) By developing in-depth knowledge through reading, people can give their best to others which in turn, helps create a better world. The time that it takes to develop in-depth knowledge can be used to contribute to the 10,000 hours of practice. Last, but certainly not least, Carson believes “If we acknowledge our need for God, he will help us.” (Carson, Think Big 257) It is imperative to know God cares about us and wants us to ask for help because God wants us to become successful. No one can become successful alone. Success can be reached through using Gladwellian traits such as family background, meaningful work, and the concept of 10,000 hours or through the acronym THINK BIG. Ben Carson’s acronym shows that to become successful, it is essential to think big.
Works Cited
Angel, D (Producer) & Carter, T. (director). 2009 Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story [Motion Picture]. United States: Sony Pictures
Bailey, C. & Madden, A. (2016). What Makes Work Meaningful — Or Meaningless. MIT Sloan Management Review, 57(4), 53–61
Carson, B., & Murphey, C. (1990). Gifted hands / by Ben Carson with Cecil Murphey. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Books, Zondervan Publishing House.
Carson, B., & Murphey, C. (1992). Think big: Unleashing your potential for excellence / Ben Carson with Cecil Murphey. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan.
Gladwell, Malcolm. (2008). Outliers: The Story of Success. New York, NY: Little, Brown, and Company.
Gregory, S. (2013). Practice, Made Perfect? Time, 181(14), 56.
Roberts, Crystal Kimpson. “Famous Neurosurgeon Ben Carson Offers Unique Keys to Success.” Black Collegian, 148vol. 30, no. 2, Feb. 2000, p. 148.
Rogers, Kara. “Ben Carson.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 21 Nov. 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/Ben-Carson.
Terris, Ben, and Stephanie Kirchner. “The Story of the Surgery That Made Ben Carson Famous — and Its Complicated Aftermath.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 13 Nov. 2015,
About the author: AMBER KNUDSON
Amber Knudson, freshman psychology and community health double major from Forest Lake, Minnesota, aspires to become a child life specialist. Knudson loves swing dancing, playing with her Maltese-poodle mix puppy, Wesley, and studying at a nearby coffee shop.
What I’ve Learned:
It doesn’t matter if you are only five foot three and still in high school. If you put the time in, study hard, and ask questions, you can ace that college course. Underdogs can defeat the giants.
Challenge yourself. The best things are always just one step out of your comfort zone. You never know what you may find.
You can’t become successful by just showing up. You need to work. Hard.
Find a time where you can just sit and write. Don’t stop. If you can’t think of what to write, write whatever is on your mind. Get your brain thinking.
Speak up when you have something to say. You have a right to an opinion.
It’s okay if your hopes and dreams change. You can start your college career with one idea but as time goes on, you may find new passions. So feel free to dream big.
When you tell a story, name the dog. Be specific. It makes the story just that much more interesting.
Be Social. Whether you are an introvert or extrovert, making friends is an easy way to be successful in college. These people can help motivate you to finish that 10-page paper you have been putting off and go with you for coffee for when you are done.
The Lord has a plan for you. It may not perfectly align with your plan, but it is a perfect plan. So trust the God will guide you down the right paths.
Challenge your perspectives. Talk to people who are older than you. They often have more experience and can provide a different perspective. Amber walked up the three flights of stairs on her way to AC318 to meet with Scott Winter, the professor who would soon become her favorite, to talk about her hopes and dreams. He challenged her to look at the big picture and think about how her actions in the present, would affect her future.
