Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience and psychology, the author shows how the difference between good and bad decision-making has nothing to do with how much information can be processed quickly, but on the few particular details on which people focus. nThe landmark book that has revolutionized the way we understand leadership and decision making -- from #1 bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell. nIn his breakthrough bestseller The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell redefined how we understand the world around us. Now, in Blink, he revolutionizes the way we understand the world within. nBlink is a book about how we think without thinking, about choices that seem to be made in an instant--in the blink of an eye--that actually aren't as simple as they seem. Why are some people brilliant decision makers, while others are consistently inept? Why do some people follow their instincts and win, while others end up stumbling into error? How do our brains really work--in the office, in the classroom, in the kitchen, and in the bedroom? And why are the best decisions often those that are impossible to explain to others? nIn Blink we meet the psychologist who has learned to predict whether a marriage will last, based on a few minutes of observing a couple; the tennis coach who knows when a player will double-fault before the racket even makes contact with the ball; the antiquities experts who recognize a fake at a glance. Here, too, are great failures of blink: the election of Warren Harding; New Coke; and the shooting of Amadou Diallo by police. nBlink reveals that great decision makers aren't those who process the most information or spend the most time deliberating, but those who have perfected the art of thin-slicing--filtering the very few factors that matter from an overwhelming number of variables.n