Book: Blink

Written by Katherine Tuesday, 02 February 2010 15:03

Author: Malcolm Gladwell

Reading Blink definitely made me more aware of the complexity behind our thoughts and judgments;  why at times we go with our instincts and at other times spend a great deal of time weighing out the pros and cons before coming to a decision; when is it OK to trust our intuition or our “gut” and when can it lead us into trouble?

Malcolm Gladwell illustrates many examples of both the successful and the not so successful attempts of utilizing instantaneous decisions with examples from the military, the arts, the police force, the educational system, the legal system and other areas.

He explores the types of high intensity jobs such as in the military that call for quick decision making and flexibility. He builds his case that these thoughts are not random but have an actual deep base in knowledge, experience and bias.

I am one of those who is never certain about what I believe 100% because I am constantly weighing the pros and the cons. Change is probably more consistent than any fixed ideas for me. Using examples, this book gave me an idea about how sometimes I end up with my original gut feeling after going through the motions of weighing the pros and cons. Learning to trust that first inclination can be a hard thing…especially if second guessing is part of my inner dialog.

It is particularly interesting to me how much power the unconscious plays in the decisions that we make and how this can work to our benefit or to our detriment when making snap decisions.

I also found it interesting which decisions we make in a flash or go by our gut instincts and which we take very slowly and weigh the pros and cons and analyze. When decisions need to be made in the "blink of an eye," are we up to the task?

This book is really fascinating. I know the impact of the author's ideas will stay with me. I recommend this book for those who are interested in decision making and the process behind it. Great food for thought!

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