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Author: Malcolm Gladwell
From the moment we awake, all of us make a range of decisions throughout the day. Days become weeks, weeks become years, and years become lifetimes. For some, decisions can mean the difference between life and death, freedom and captivity, or war and peace. Yet, most of us pay little attention to the how and why of decision-making, the process that ultimately may have substantial impact on our lives and those who may be affected by our decisions.
BLINK: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, by Malcolm Gladwell, is an anecdotal, easy-to-read discussion of how our mind leads us to many of the decisions we reach. Gladwell does not present readers with a dry, scientific lecture about the mind. Instead, readers are treated to a breezy account of how split-second decisions are made and perhaps more importantly how people often assume the accuracy of those decisions when, in fact, those decisions are alarmingly incorrect.
Gladwell believes that our society is dedicated to the belief that decisions should be reached after a lengthy and deliberate fact-gathering process. When we are young, this concept is embedded in our brains. Stop and think, look before you leap, and haste makes waste are aphorisms taught to us all at a very young age. But Gladwell gives us examples where the opposite is in fact true, when snap judgments and first impressions are simply more reliable. As an example, he recounts the experience of one of America's busiest hospitals, Cook County Hospital, in Chicago, Illinois. Recently that facility changed the method for diagnosing patients who arrived there with chest pains. Doctors were instructed to gather less information rather than more. They were instructed to focus on critical information such as blood pressure and ECG. Applying the less is better philosophy, Cook County has become a leading American hospital in diagnosing chest pain.
Malcolm Gladwell brings a scientific and business background to his writing. His first book, THE TIPPING POINT, recognizes how ideas, products and behavior become contagious within a culture. In both books, he presents his theories in a manner that can be studied at several levels. Some readers will be interested in the practical applications of the theories presented in BLINK. Others may find far more significance in the theory of decision-making and the ramifications of those concepts on our lives. In both respects, the attraction of BLINK is its potent mix of entertainment with perspective-altering theories.
While BLINK presents the possibility that quick evaluations can be as effective as deliberative decisions, the key word in that premise is "possibility." A quick decision can often be a disaster when it is the result of inappropriate first impressions. We must teach ourselves to recognize the difference between first impressions that are important and those that may be harmful. As an example of the latter, Gladwell cites to the reader something he has identified as the "Warren Harding error." Harding, arguably one of this country's worst Presidents, appeared very much like a President in the minds of many voters. "We have a sense of what a leader is supposed to look like, he writes." "And that stereotype is so powerful that when someone fits it, we simply become blind to other considerations."
BLINK is the type of book that many people will be discussing in the near future. While certainly it is your decision whether or not to read it, follow that first impression and pick up a copy. You will not be sorry you did.
-- Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman
Price: $15.57
Buy at: Amazon.com
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