Malcolm Gladwell proposes an interesting argument within his article Most Likely to Succeed.  He states that the reason America has poor academic performance in comparison to other industrialized nations is because of our teachers.   He effectively argues this throughout the piece by comparing America's education situation to that of the National Football League.  He inserts a specific story throughout the piece to tie the examples together and effectively support his point.  It is also interesting that he uses a sporting event to compare to education because they usually have conflicting intentions.  This second scenario further connects the reader to his article and enforces his argument throughout the piece. 

Near the end of his article, he uses a specific example from the co-president of North Star Resource Group, a financial advising group.  By using Deutschlander's personal anecdote, Gladwell establishes ethos for his argument.  Because North Star is a significantly successful company, readers are likely to agree with its system of selecting employees.  This becomes one of Gladwell's key arguments,  to create a system that focuses on a competitive "apprenticeship ... that allows candidates to be rigorously evaluated"(7).  Gladwell emphasizes the success of Deutschlanger's company to convince readers of its superior selection process of employees.  Gladwell argues that if America adopted a program to ensure quality teachers, students would gradually meet the academic standards of other industrialized nations.