Book Review: Subject - Personal Development

Title: Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
Author: Malcolm Gladwell
Publisher Litt;e Brown & Company
ISBN: 0-316-17232-4

Wayne Gretzky - who, without question, is the greatest hockey player of all time - was asked to explain how he was able to do the things he did during the course of a game. He thought about it for a moment but he couldn't come up with an answer. He couldn't explain how he did what he did - he just reacted to the play around him without consciously thinking about it. He made critical decisions in the "blink" of an eye. He listened to his inner-voice and trusted what it was telling him. He used instinct to think. Author Malcolm Gladwell, in his latest book, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, helps shed some light on how people like Gretzky are able to make those split second decisions.

He reaffirms my belief that there isn't any such thing as common sense. I believe that the only thing common about common sense is that it's not very common at all. We are not born with common sense, however; we are born with the ability to learn new things. The more we learn, the more common sense we have. It should be called life-sense. It seems the older we get the smarter we get. Gladwell's research suggests that our first impressions are generated by our experiences and our environment.

This notion implies that we are able to alter our impressions by changing the experiences that influence the way we think. Scientific research suggests that our conscious decisions are influenced by our subconscious minds. Psychologist Timothy D. Wilson believes that our mind operates most efficiently by relegating a good deal of our high-level, sophisticated thinking to the subconscious. He suggests that the subconscious does an excellent job of sizing up the world, warning people of danger, setting goals, and initiating action. Wilson says we toggle back and forth between our conscious and subconscious modes of thinking depending on the situation.

We make quick decisions based upon our past experiences. It's what is referred to as "thin-slicing". According to Wikipedia, thin-slicing is our ability to decipher information and zero in on the most important facts needed to make a decision. If it looks like a rose, and smells like a rose, then our subconscious tells us it's a rose. If you can learn how to reprogram your subconscious mind then you can change how you react in most situations. Case in point: have you ever met someone for the very first time and decided that you didn't like them? You couldn't explain why, but there was something about them that you just didn't like. However, the more you got to know them the more you realized that your first impression was based on wrong information. The solution to such inaccurate impressions is simple: change the input to change the output.

This is a great read. I like Gladwell's writing style. He has taken a complex subject and made it easier for all of us to understand. What I took away from this book is that we can change the results by changing what we choose to believe. We can learn to make better, quicker decisions by reprogramming our past beliefs. We all have the ability to become masters of thin-slicing, and react like Wayne Gretzky (now if only I could skate).