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 The Master Story Teller
When I was a young man there was late-night disc jockey in Chicago by the name of Sid McCoy who played a lot of Frank Sinatra recordings. He often referred to Sinatra as The Master Story Teller, because Frank's respect for the lyrics and his phrasing were so exquisite that he made you really feel the emotions the songwriter was attempting to convey.
In my opinion, when it comes to non-fiction books, Malcolm Gladwell is The Master Story Teller. In "Blink" he uses his talent for conveying stories, studies, and arguments to help us understand a magical, mysterious thing called judgment. And he asserts that judgment is important because it is what separates winners from losers.
Early in the book Gladwell explains that "Blink" is concerned with the very smallest components of our everyday lives - the content and origin of those instantaneous impressions and conclusions that spontaneously arise whenever we meet a new person or confront a complex situation or have to make a decision under conditions of stress.
He uses a phrase in psychology, thin-slicing, to explain that human beings are often capable of making sense of situations based on the thinnest slice of experience.
Gladwell's primary goal for "Blink" is to accomplish three tasks: 1] To convince us that decisions made very quickly can be every bit as good as those made cautiously and deliberately. 2] Assist us in knowing when we should trust our instincts, and when we should be wary of them. 3] Convince us that our snap judgements and first impressions can be educated and controlled.
The book is replete with fascinating stories and studies that help Gladwell accomplish these tasks. One that I found particularly enlightening, and should be read by every medical doctor, is a revelation about why some doctors are sued for malpractice and others aren't. The answer has nothing to do with the medical skill or training of the physician, but everything to do with the doctor/patient relationships.
It seems that patients don't sue doctors whom they like. In fact, one patient cited chose to sue her internest, even after being informed that it was the radiologist who was potentially at fault. Why? Because she liked the radiologist, and didn't like the internist. I can relate to this because my wife could have sued a doctor for malpractice but chose not to because she liked him.
Related to this is a study described in this book that utilized a mere 40 seconds of recorded conversations of surgeons talking with patients. In these recordings the exact words spoken were filtered out, leaving just the intonation, pitch, and rhythm of the doctors voice but not the content of the conversation. From this judges rated slices of the remaining garble for such qualities as warmth, hostility, dominance, and anxiousness. From that alone it could be determined which surgeons got sued and which ones didn't. Stunning.
There is much more I'd like to share about "Blink" than space allows. If this review captured your interest, by all means read the book.
One last item: Sid McCoy, who also gave the great singer Nancy Wilson the nickname, "The Baby" went on to become the executive producer of the hugely successful TV show, "Soul Train."
Effects of Snap Judgments
Blink is a great book. This book talks about how we make snap judgments about people and the things that surrounds us. He proposes an idea and supports it with many peer-reviewed research. He does raise questions and provoke the reader to ponder on the issues raised and come up with his or her own conclusion. What amazes me the most about him is that all the ideas in this book is about finding ways to improve our society as a whole. I strongly believe that he is a another version of President Obama that wants to help and improve society as a whole. There is more to this book that will make you step back and think about some of the issues affecting our society today. You must read this book!
 Worst book that I never read
Alright, I did start it, but I could not finish it. It was that boring. Don't make a snap judgment though, you should read it for yourself and realize that anyone without a brain can get published these days. A former boss who liked to drink and employ the services of hookers gave our team this as a Christmas gift which were some of the many Blink judgments he made.
 The King of Common Sense
After following Gladwell in the New Yorker, and enjoying his most recent work "Tipping Point", I've been eagerly awaiting the release of his newest piece, "Blink". Gladwell is the king of common sense, many of the points he addresses are based on what we already know. But I suppose that's the exact reason I enjoy his work so much. What many of us, not excluding myself, sometimes fail to recognize about the current understanding of the brain and human reactions - Gladwell saturates himself in. Secondly, being a lifelong fan of the Getty - I was pleasantly surprised with his remarkable insights into the museum as well.
Ausgezeichnet!!
One of the most facinating books I have ever read. If you want to know what people are really thinking, despite what they may be saying, read this awesome book.
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(based on 1125 reviews)
