Hi All Once again.. I took this book from my friend Alok Upadhyay. I used to travel a lot to my home town to see my wife and daughter when she was away from home for maternity reasons. At last i finished reading this book yesterday and couldnt stop myself from writing this review. I started reading 2 states by Chetan Bhagat and I will come back with a a write up soon..
I haven’t read the Tipping Point (also by Malcolm) so wasn’t familiar with the authors previous work. Blink isn’t your typical book about spirituality or growth that you see recommended in this niche, but is actually about ‘The Power of Thinking without Thinking’.
And if I had to describe it very briefly I would say: “Eye opening”.
I always prefer the authors description of a book as they have mastered it to get to the point:
It’s a book about rapid cognition, about the kind of thinking that happens in a blink of an eye. When you meet someone for the first time, or walk into a house you are thinking of buying, or read the first few sentences of a book, your mind takes about two seconds to jump to a series of conclusions. Well, “Blink” is a book about those two seconds, because I think those instant conclusions that we reach are really powerful and really important and, occasionally, really good.
The book is about those two second and a whole alot more. Malcolm draws on examples from science, advertising, sales, medicine, and popular music to reinforce his ideas. The best example is about an ex-Marine’s victory in a war-game simulation. He may have been out numbered and didn’t have the resources that the opposing team had. However, the ex-marine used his better judgement and ability to thin slice a situation until he came out on top.
The other example that really connected for me was about advertising. The example given was about the snap judgments that people make about food, advertising and if they are going to buy a product. The book went into a bit of detail about how research can aid firms looking to get into the food business and win…. especial if you are in the jam business. In the end the book is really about people and each one of us. The book taught me a bit about myself and how I go about making those choices that effect the world around me. I don’t think I’ll change how I think slice people but I will be even more conscious of it.
The chapters of the book are:
1. The Statue that Didn’t Look Right
2. The Theory of Thin Slices
3. The Locked Door: The Secret Life of Snap Decisions
4. The Warren Harding Error
5. Paul Van Riper’s Big Victory
6. The Right and Wrong Way to Ask People What they Want
7. Seven Seconds in the Bronx
8. Living with Your Eyes
This book is literally jam-packed with interesting stories, studies and observations. Towards the back of the book I particularly found the fact that Pepsi still beats Coke in taste tests to this day very interesting. However, if you are drinking either on a regular basis Coke will be your preferred drink as it isn’t as sweet.
Pick your copy today and start reading it. I will be going to Odyssey or Land Mark to pick a copy of Tipping Point by the same author - I am quite Impressed!!
No comments:
Post a Comment