Lunch & Learn Recap: Outliers and Prompt Engineering

Presented by: Gustav Grotius

Part One: What Makes an Outlier?

In the first half of this thought-provoking Lunch & Learn, we unpacked ideas from Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers to understand the hidden forces that shape extraordinary achievements.

Success isn’t just about talent. It's about:

• Timing — Be born in the right era (hello, tech boomers)

• Opportunity — Access to the right tools, people, and moments

• Culture — The values and habits that shape how we learn and work

• Effort — Grit, grind, and those 10,000 hours of practice

Why Some People Stand Out

Not all success is built the same. Sure, talent matters — but other factors often play a bigger role than we think.

One Surprising Example 🏒

The Birthday Advantage — Canadian hockey stars are often born early in the year, giving them a youth sports edge that snowballs over time. 📈 That’s the Matthew Effect: small early advantages lead to big long-term wins.

The 10,000 Hour Rule — Myth or Magic? 🎸

The Beatles leveled up with nonstop gigs in Hamburg. 💻 Bill Gates had rare early access to computers. It’s not just talent — it’s time spent practicing that creates mastery.

Timing Is Everything 👨‍💻

Jobs, Gates, and Ellison were born at just the right moment to ride the wave of personal computing. Being in the right era can be a game-changer.

Culture Shapes Success 🛫

Korean Air improved safety by changing how crews communicated. 🧮 Asian students thrive in math thanks to culture and language. 🌍 Bottom line? Culture shapes how we learn, lead, and succeed.

Key Takeaways ✅

Success = Talent × Opportunity × Culture × Effort ✅ Early advantages (even small ones) matter more than we think ✅ Culture can accelerate or inhibit progress — awareness is key ✅ Greatness is often built behind the scenes, over time

Lunch & Learn Recap Part two: Mastering Prompt Engineering

In the second half of our session, we dove into the powerful (and practical) world of prompt engineering — the art of crafting great inputs for large language models (LLMs) to get better outputs.

What Is Prompt Engineering?

It’s not just what you ask — it’s how you ask it. A well-structured prompt can turn a generic response into something accurate, insightful, and tailored to your needs.

🧠 Prompt Styles We Covered: 

We explored key styles, including:

• Instructional — Direct, task-based commands

• Zero-shot — Asking without examples

• Chain-of-thought — Encouraging step-by-step reasoning

  
  

🛠️ Writing Better Prompts

• Clarity — Be precise

• Context — Provide background info

• Constraints — Set limits (tone, length, format)

• Formatting — Use structure and lists

• Examples — Show what you want

🚀 Advanced Techniques 

We also introduced more advanced strategies to take your prompts further:

• Prompt Chaining — Linking multiple prompts to build complex workflows

• ReAct (Reason + Act) — Guiding the model through reasoning and decision steps

• RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) — Feeding in external knowledge for richer, more accurate answers

Final Takeaways 

✅ Great prompts = better results 

✅ You don’t need to be technical to master this skill 

✅ Prompt engineering is a game-changer for anyone working with AI

Want to improve fast? Start experimenting — and don’t be afraid to tweak and test.

#LunchAndLearn #Outliers #PromptEngineering #AItools #SmartPrompts #LarkAndStern #ContinuousLearning #GrowthMindset