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The Power Of Thinking Without Thinking: Blink

blink We don't like to admit it, but the vast majority of the decisions we make in our lives are made without rationally thinking through all of our options and carefully considering the path we finally choose. It's as true of the big decisions as it is of the small.

Blink, Malcolm Gladwell's follow up to The Tipping Point, deals with our "adaptive unconscious." The adaptive unconscious is that part of our brain that allows us to process immense amounts of data in a very short amount of time - a split second. It's what makes us human. It's what has allowed us to survive as a species.

"I think we are innately suspicious of this kind of rapid cognition," Gladwell writes. "We live in a world that assumes that the quality of a decision is related to the time and effort that went into making it." This book not only gives key insight into why this is not always true, it also provides insight into those times when our instincts betray us.

Reading this book will help you better understand why the first few steps someone takes inside a home they've never seen before are so critical. It will help you understand the "emotional" decisions we make in buying a home and why presentation matters. It will help you understand why the first few moments that someone spends on your website, the first few seconds they spend watching a featured tour, are the key to your success.

Gladwell has three missions in Blink. The first, "is to convince you of a simple fact: decisions made very quickly can be every bit as good as decisions made cautiously and deliberately." His second goal is to help you understand "when to listen to you powerful onboard computer and when to be wary of it." And his third goal, the one I consider the most powerful, is "to convince you that your snap judgments and first impressions can be educated and controlled."

Blink is a powerful book, filled with excellent real world examples and studies that will keep you glued to the pages. And though it is not a truly cohesive theory, it's more of guess, it's none the less provocative and motivating. Do yourself a favor. You've already decided whether you want to read this book. If you've made it this far, it's because your adaptive unconscious has already told you to keep reading, to learn more. Trust that instinct.

EDIT: Additional Review Links

Malcolm Gladwell's Own Review of his book - complete with other suggested reading titles.

Powells.com review

The CEO Refesher review

Why Blink Matters: The Power Of First Impressions

Jeff Turner aka respres

Posted by Jeff Turner on 12/23/2006 12:21 AM

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Originally posted at: Turner's Perspective: The Power Of Thinking Without Thinking: Blink

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62 Comments on The Power Of Thinking Without Thinking: Blink

DEC

2006

Splendid review, thank you! I am going to put this on my to read in 2007 list!

I just finsihed Tipping Point. Would you believe that Blink is on backorder at every bookstore I visited this past week?

Thanks for the review. I'm more interested now than I was at 3PM today!

Renee, you won't be disappointed in your decision. And if you've not read The Tipping Point yet, you really should. See Brian's comment above.

Brian, I bought Blink the first week it was released because I enjoyed The Tipping Point so much. As for backorders, I always order from Amazon.com. I know they have it in stock.

I read Blink when it first came out and enjoyed it, but felt the points he made could have been made in half or a quarter of the space. His points on first impressions and followup on that were significant and worthwhile, but I thought the book tended to ramble on in places.

Do not control the vertical; do not control the horizontal; you will buy this book lol It does sound good!

Sharon, I can see you point. This is probably why I don't think it presents a cohesive theory. In places it does lose it's focus, but on the whole i think you said it well, it's "significant and worthwhile." I read it when it first came out as well and decided to write this review because of the spate of posts on the emotional aspects of buying a home. Thank you for adding your opinion!

Carole... :) The whole book is about, in one form or another, analyzing what happened in the two seconds it took you to decide to read the book or not. This is not a how to book, so it's not going to take you step by step toward some plan, but it will open your mind to the notion of thinking without thinking.

I have not read either of these books but will make a point to do so. Carole comented that the author of Blink takes too long to get to the point, so I hope I can stick with it, I am a get to the point type of person.

A major difference between the computers we use in our lives and the one that is called our brain, is the fact that our brain's computer is linked to our emotions and our central nervous system. That enables us to process and filter an entire lifetime of experiences, have an emotional reaction feel something throughout our entire body - and make a decision, decide on a course of action - in seconds, a Blink.

The impact of that phenomenon should tell us to focus clearly on the QUALITY, CLARITY AND EMOTIONAL APPEAL OF OUR PRESENTATIONS. It's not about being slick, or clever or business-savvy. It's about simply respecting how we function as humans and using that information to be effective in our interactions. Why fight who we are or how we operate?

Blink both illuminates and guides us through an understanding and adaptation of that reality. A must read - in my opinion.

Jennifer, I had a hard time putting the book down, personally. But it does go into great detail in some parts analyzing the story behind the point. Chapter five, for example, "Kenna's Dilemma: The Right - And Wrong - Way To Ask People What They Want" the story winds from Kenna, to Dick Morris, to the Pepsi challenge... but the point is worth the journey. Do I think he could have made his point faster? Without question. But each story could have stood on it's own merit.

Bil, you are 100% correct. This is not just about information. The fact that our brains are instantly processing the culmination of all our experiences and our responses to those experience is what makes us uniquely human. Understanding this should result in a focus on more than just the details of the information. You put it perfectly, it tells us to "focus on the quality, clarity and emotional appeal of our presentations."

Jeff, I have not read the book, but would have to agree that the bulk of the decisions that we make are made very quickly. However, having said that, I believe that the quick decisions are made because of what we have experienced in life. Even walking, we don't think about it, but at one point in our life we did. I believe that the more we experience the quicker we react the next time.

Sounds like an interesting book, now all I need is to find the time to read it......hummm did I just make to quick of a decision……..LOL

George, you're right. It's our ability to process, almost instantly, the entirety of our life experience that makes this notion so powerful. Now, our ability to find time is a completely different matter. : )

Hi Jeff, I make decisions very very quickly. They may not all be good ones but I'm not one to dwell on them. Maybe it's a confidence thing, I'm not quite sure. I also like information quickly and to the point. No explanations needed, just give me the facts, in Readers Digest version, and I will give you my decision. Then I move forward. If my decision causes problems, I solve them or change my direction. For me, it eliminates a lot of stress in my life.

I haven't read either of those books but will add them to my list.

Quick decisions made from experience are called instinct.

Quick decisions made by from with no experience are called mistakes.

Lenn

So our experience is not knowledge in the usual sense of knowledge. It is not what we call ordinary knowledge – the information we have in our minds that we remember about things in the past. It is knowledge now. Basic knowledge is always direct knowledge in the moment – the stuff of our immediate experience. We usually don’t call it knowledge; we call it experience, and if we are a little more sophisticated, we call it perception. Perception carries more of the sense of being aware of your immediate experience, which is the palpable sense of knowingness that is basic knowledge. - A.H. Almaas

Most people spend very little wondering about or observing the basics - like what is experience, knowledge, perception... or even - what is the business I am in? In fact, I think it is fairly safe to say that most of what is said is merely repeated.

Sorry, better get back to my zafu

Bryant - Took the words right out of my mouth. Generally I make my decisions fast including which virtual tour company we went with. My husband did all the research, found the finest quality, told me the bottom line and I said "let's rock." As long as you trust someone's judgment, there's no need to micromanage.

I am guilty of "building a clock when asked for the time" (my son always used to tell me that) it's difficult for me to give a Readers Digest "for fear of leaving something out." So I guess I process quickly but communicate in an excessive number of words. Do you agree, Jeff? lol

Jeff -This gives me a different perspective on presenting virtual tours: Normally the first thing viewers see when they enter the home is the front door. Logic being that they see things "from left to right" before deciding which icon to click on/which panorama to look at next. I'm going to change (hey, here's another example of thinking quickly!!) so that when people "walk in the door" they see straight ahead..... the KILLER view.

As usual, I love your blogs. You've got an incredible mind.

Jeff, this is a great reminder article. I, also, read Blink when it first came out and it was fascinating. But time goes by and you forget to remember. I think I'll go back and do a re-read.

Ok, I'm listening to Gill Scott Heron, and feeling contemplative so I finally decided I would comment again; the truth is, I have spent my whole life thinking it's not good to make snap judgments; and to only trust my instincts, or act on them, once I decide they are right; so what do you think of that, huh? LOL I do make snap judgments but then try to talk myself out of them. People told me my whole life I was too impulsive!

We wish you a merry Christmas! We wish you a merry Christmas! We wish you a merry Christmas And a happy New Year! Glad tidings we bring To you and your kin! Glad tidings for Christmas And a happy New Year!

Broker Bryant and The Lovely Wife (pretend we are singing it works better like that) ROAR!

I actually saw him speak at the NAR Convention last year and he was awesome. I enjoyed a short conversation with him and he was very focused and entertaining. I have read both his books and they are wonderful and very intuitive.

Ok...I love this kind of talk! It gets me going...thank you Jeff for introducing some depth into our blogging life. I believe that intent drives our decisions i.e. if the intent is to impress then decisions are made outside ourselves. If the intent is to create then decisions are made within ourselves. When I am decorating I experience both in rapid succession. I calculated at one time that when I was going through a wallpaper book for a client, the amount of data I had to process while looking at every page came out to about 400 decisions per minute. I found that I could only be really great for about 4 hours and then I would have come back to it the next day and see what I did.

Then while reading the comments, I think that we are born trusting our environment and as time goes by and your instints caused you pain, you become more cautious and begin making more calculated decisions with the outcome in mind.

Thanks, I feel better already!

Stage It Forward!

Thanks for pointing me to this book, Jeff. I am on the brink of buying "blink". Someone said that we make the right decision based on experience but we gained the experience from making wrong decisions. Another aspect of decisions: over time a "right" decision turns out to be "wrong" and vice versa.

DEC

2006

Everyone, thanks for adding to this dialogue. I'm really enjoying reading all of the comments!

Jeff T.... I have not read neither, but now I gues I will be stopping by the book store. Thanks for sharing this with us. PS.... and if Brian read it, I guess I should.

JB... you gotta keep up with him. I read somewhere that he's America's Most Opinionated Mortgage Banker. Seriously, you'll love both. I would read them in order, The Tipping Point first, even though they have nothing to do with one another.

I'll have to check that title out. Tony and I listened to You Can Be Happy No Matter What: Five Principles for Keeping Life in Perspective on the drive back to Phoenix. Worth listening to/reading IMHO.

Suzanne, thank you for the recommendation.

Jeff,

I will be reading this book. I make very deliberate cautious decisions (including waiting 11 years to marry my wife) My wife on the other hand makes very quick decisions. It is funny that most of the time her decisions are very good and rational. She very seldom regrets a decision made. When buying a house she walks in and says yes or no - her comment is "it is just a house" - posessions are just that, the important thing is family so I guess to use a cliche "home is where the heart is".

I think we have the tendancy to expect people to behave how we do. I think learing about how & why people make decisions would be great for getting in the mind of the buyer psyche.

I also just want to say I love real estate shows. These have been very helpful in working with my out of state buyers.

Since they put this as a featured post, I feel I need to lead you to some other sites. I will add these to the main post as well:

Malcolm Gladwell's Own Review of his book - complete with other suggested reading titles.

Powells.com review

The CEO Refesher review

Why Blink Matters: The Power Of First Impressions

Kevin... thank you! And thank you for using RealEstateShows.com

DEC

2006

As for backorders, I always order from Amazon.com. I know they have it in stock

I just did that, Jeff. Thanks for the advice. I'll have it by the end of the week.

Excellent, Brian! I'd love to hear your thoughts once you've had a chance to digest it.

DEC

2006

Hey Jeff - I loved this book. Did you ever take any of the Harvard implicit association tests mentioned in the book. They are tests about how you really feel about given groups of people or things. They have tests about how people really feel about - fat people, meat and vegetables, men vs women - everything. They are trying to prove that people will lie even to themselves. People will say I have no bias against (Fill in the blank) but sometimes the results contradict what you thought about yourself. It is really interesting. Let me know if you try any of the tests.

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/selectatest.html

About the same time when I read this I read Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. I really enjoyed it also. He makes a lot of really interesting connections.

You know whenever I stage a home I am cognoscente of Blink. I leave "Emotional Connection Points" in almost every room. Little things like beautiful wine glasses, best selling novels lying open in a cozy corner, expensive china, bath soap next to a luxurious fluffy towel in the master bath. Lots of little things. Sometimes Realtors or homeowners will ask if that book or wine will make a difference - all I have to say is BLINK. Unfortunately most people are unfamiliar with the book so I have to paraphrase. I think all stagers do this - they may or may not be conscious of it. I've got my eyes wide open. I always tell clients I'm selling a lifestyle not just a home.

Maureen, yes I did take the tests. So did my wife. It was odd how closely our biases aligned. I was not surprised by my results, but my wife was. The are truly interesting tests. I recommend that anyone pick a bias and see how you score.

Great additional comment about making practical use of "blink" concepts! And I would agree that stagers are more conscious of the first impression "blink" impact that is required to really sell a home for top dollar.

Okay. Now I am going to have to buy the book. I want to take that test myself. This may be one of those 'curiosity killed the cat' deals...ROAR...TLW!

TLW... as much as I'd like you to buy the book and read it, you don't need to buy it to take the tests... click here.

Hey. Thanks. I still think I need to buy this book. The more I read on this post the more I think I need to read the book. I haven't read a book like this in many many years. I am probably waaaay over due to read a book that is not about Blogging, God or Monks. :) Question have you ever read 'Emotional Intelligence'? It's an excellent book. :) TLW...ROAR!

TLW... is this the "Emotional Intelligence" you are referring to, by Daniel Goleman? If so, then no. Are you asking me to read a book about emotions?

No. No. No. I was just wondering if you had ever read it. I did a long time ago. I think that's the same book. I will have to check my books and see if it is. I am having brain gas on the author. GVW...TLW...ROAR!

It sounds very interestings... "Daniel Goleman's brilliant report from the frontiers of psychology and neuroscience offers startling new insight into our "two minds"—the rational and the emotional—and how they together shape our destiny." One reviewer wrote this: "Of all the books I have read in my entire life, Daniel Goleman's book on Emotional Intelligence was as difficult to begin as it was to put down. After numerous attempts to make it past the first chapter, I finally dedicated an entire week to the reading of this classic treatise on the importance of emotional awareness. Surprisingly it then only took three days to finish reading because I read constantly day and night, night and day."

Yup. That's the one. I just dug out my old books. :) TLW...ROAR!

" decisions made very quickly can be every bit as good as decisions made cautiously and deliberately." His second goal is to help you understand "Strangely this is so often true.I may revise a decision, look the pros and con and then surprise go back to the first one. They say that most often a buyer will buy "emotionaly" so its a question of how in tune you are with your emotions and how much you trust them.

Jeff,

If this book can help me to better understand how to make my website more appealing and effective to the 'blinkers' of the world, then it is definitely worthy of what little 'down-time' I have! You have peaked my interest in the 'blink' of an eye!

Thanks! :)

Jeff - I think I'm going to re-read Blink. It is going to be my New Years Resolution to make better snap judgments. I am going to pay more attention to my gut and when someone reveals themselves to me I will believe them. I think the whole thing is related.

TLW - Let us know how you do on the tests. I found some of the results surprising. One for instance has to do with men and women's ability in math or science - something like who is better in that field. In my head I honestly believe there is no difference. Girls RULE!!! But my test results revealed that I had a slight bias against women in mathematics. I couldn't believe it. But the results were there in black and white. I think it is interesting to see the results - sometimes they will surprise you.
PS - Apparently I have a bias against Vegetables too. Which is weird because I was a vegetarian for almost 15 years Maybe that explains why I'm not a vegetarian any more.

Maureen...I am going to take the tests tomorrow. Whether or not I share the results will depend on how truly weird I am. :) Hey. You know me. I am weird and I have an extremely good imagination. The results of these tests are making me nervous (Yah. I said nervous) and I haven't even taken them yet. I will come back and let you know whether or not I am too weird to talk further about the results. :) You can laugh at me now. I know you're going to. SVW...TLW...ROAR!

Jeff,

You were right, I had decided to get the book immediately before reading that if I was still reading, then I had decided to get the book. I have to admit though, I have the Tipping Point and did not really learn anything new (to me). I usually make snap decisions. It's very rare that I think a long time about things. My husband, however, will look at every conceivable side of a situation and then make a conscious decision or judgement. I have tried to make myself do that, but it's just not me. Thanks for the recommendation. You have had so many responses, you should do Blink as a group.

DEC

2006

Karen, for me the book reinforces a personal belief. My gut is almost always right. The biggest mistakes I've made in my life have been NOT trusting my gut. Which is not say my gut has never been wrong, because it has. On the whole, when I look back, trusting my gut and not second guessing would have kept me out of a lot of situations I'd rather not have been in. So, you may find yourself feeling the same way about this book that you did about The Tipping Point. It's not so much new as it is a confirmation.

TLW... we'll still love you no matter what the tests show.

Maureen... my gut tells me that's a good decision. : )

Lloyd and Val... thanks so much for your comments.

Jeff,

I ordered the book and I will let you know. I have to agree about gut instincts though. Even when I think maybe I was wrong, time usually tells me I was right. We all make mistakes and I do agree that emotions can get in the way of gut instincts. You have to keep a clear head.

I'll look forward to your review, Karen!

Jeff I too have ordered the book. And the Tipping Point. I tend to not trust my gut and take a bit longer to make decisions. I want to analyze the data. I think these books will help reinforce to me that snap decisions are ok. Good even. Thank you.

Debi... I obviously think you're going to enjoy both! Trust your gut!

JAN

2007

I finished Blink yesterday. I preferred The Tipping Point much more. Notwithstanding, an excellent read.

FEB

2007

I've read both the Tipping Point and Blink, and must admit I really enjoyed both of them (despite Gladwell's fondness for elaboration). But I think the real challenge with these concepts is putting them to action in your everyday life and using them to your benefit, rather than just recognizing that the concepts exist.

Personally, I have seen the "Tipping Point" work for me in a past team effort. We were trying to establish contact with a few different schools for a community service project and had been trying for over a month to get a dialogue going. Then one day, I made 3 calls and within half an hour had spoken to the five different schools we were trying to reach. That's definitely a Tipping Point that made a huge difference in our project. We took off from that moment on, seeing the rest of the project thru successfully.

Anybody else have any good stories of real life "tipping points" or "blink" experiences?

Great story and perfect illustration, Katy. I'd love to hear other stories as well.

MAR

2007

If you don't have time to read The Tipping Point or Blink, go to Audible.com and purchase the books for download to your mp3 player. That's how I "read" Blink. I loved the book. It was even better to hear it read by it's author. I think you can get so much more out of a book that is narrated by the one who wrote it.

Bridget, thank you for this recommendation!

{SVW Hubba}

Have a laugh on Maureen Henry and I...

She made this and gave it to me as a gift...

You're gonna love it SVW...

TLW...ROAR! (that may be redundant now) LOL...

LOL!

Well this was fun... SVVW.

CLICK HERE.

Oh no I've created a monster!!!

You most certainly have my dear...

I'm having a blast with this thing. SVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVW

Oh! Boy. My V is stuck again. LOL...

TLW...ROAR!

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Jeff Turner

Santa Clarita, CA

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Real Estate Shows

Office Phone: (661) 244-5812

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Jeff Turner helps people grow their business through the effective use of emerging technologies. I am the President of Zeek Interactive and Founder of RealEstateShows.com. Father of 6. Husband of 1.

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