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About the Author

Malcolm Gladwell\xa0is the author of five\xa0New York Times\xa0bestsellers\u2013The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, What the Dog Saw,\xa0and\xa0David and Goliath.\xa0

He is also the co-founder of Pushkin Industries, an audio content company that produces the podcasts Revisionist History, which reconsiders things both overlooked and misunderstood, and Broken Record, where he, Rick Rubin, and Bruce Headlam interview musicians across a wide range of genres. Gladwell has been included in the TIME 100 Most Influential People list and touted as one of\xa0Foreign Policy\u2018s Top Global Thinkers.

Source:\xa0https://www.gladwellbooks.com/landing-page/about-malcolm-gladwell/

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

https://www.bookdepository.com/Blink/9780141014593/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the Book

Blink\xa0is a book about how we think without thinking, about choices that seem to be made in an instant\u2013in the blink of an eye\u2013that actually aren\u2019t as simple as they seem. Why are some people brilliant decision makers, while others are consistently inept? Why do some people follow their instincts and win, while others end up stumbling into error? How do our brains
really work\u2013in the office, in the classroom, in the kitchen, and in the bedroom? And why are the best decisions often those that are impossible to explain to others?

Blink\xa0reveals that great decision makers aren\u2019t those who process the most information or spend the most time deliberating, but those who have perfected the art of \u201cthin-slicing\u201d\u2013filtering the very few factors that matter from an overwhelming number of variables.

Source:\xa0https://www.gladwellbooks.com/titles/malcolm-gladwell/blink/9780316172325/

I read a quote from Malcolm on why he wrote Blink, he said; \u201cto demonstrate that decisions made very quickly can be every bit as good as decisions made cautiously and deliberately; to help decide when we should and shouldn\u2019t trust our instincts; and to show that snap judgments and first impressions can be educated and controlled.\u201d

Links

Check out Malcolm\u2019s Revisionist History podcast \u2013\xa0http://revisionisthistory.com/
If you liked this episode, you might also enjoy the summary of\xa0Outliers, also by Malcolm Gladwell

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BIG IDEA 1 (4:28) \u2013 Find the right thin slice of information

This is about pattern recognition \u201cthe ability of our unconscious to find patterns in situations and behavior based on very narrow slices of experience\u201d. What are those important bits of information and what can be ignored?

Thin slicing is a key principle in the book and is the reason why some people make good \u2018split\u2019 decisions \u2013 a lot of this is down to the fact that they\u2019re picking the right \u2018slice\u2019 of information to assess \u2013 just the important bits.

This was brought to life in the work of John Gottman in analysing married couples to assess if they would stay together or get divorced.\xa0 There were certain \u2018thin slices\u2019 (such as contempt and a ratio of less than 5:1 positive:negative interactions) which were sure signs of relationship failure.

Other studies such as one where strangers had to analyse the personality of someone by looking in their dorm room, and a study on doctors\u2019 tone of voice with a patient as an indicator of whether they would get sued, were other examples of the power of the right \u2018slice\u2019 of information as predictors.

BIG IDEA 2 (8:43) \u2013 The dark side of blinking.

When we pick the wrong piece of information to thin slice, we can end up making horrible decisions. A great example in the book was a Warren Harding, who essentially became President because he \u2018looked\u2019 like a great president. However, he turned out to be one of the worst Presidents that America has ever had.

A great quote from the book is \u201cmediocre people find their way into positions of authority because when it comes to the most important positions, our selection decisions a less rational than we think.\u201d

This still happens today \u2013 in the top 500 CEOs, almost 33% of them are over 6ft 2in.\xa0 However, in the general male US population, only 3.9% of men are over 6ft 2in. This is a perfect example of how we look for appealing visible traits in people as a \u2018thin slice\u2019 of information to make unrelated decisions and judgements on.

BIG IDEA 3 (11:49) \u2013 Listen with your ears not with your eyes.

In the past, classical orchestras were sexist and believed you could only play a certain instrument if you were male and white. After a lot of protest, the orchestras changed the audition process to put screens up, so the judges couldn\u2019t see the performer, and performers were given numbers rather than names.

As a result, female participation in US orchestras increased five fold. Which means that when people listen with their ears rather than eyes, they bring the right people for the job based on their skills.

It begs the question, in your personal or career, what are you doing or participating in that\u2019s biased? Where are you thin slicing the wrong information? What assumptions are you holding on to which might not be the best predictors of the outcome you need?

Music By:\xa0The Future Is Now \u2013 Instrumental Version Song by MARLOE.

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