Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink: the Power of First Impressions
On July 29, I went to Nashville, Tennessee for a work-related meeting. The trip lasted for two weeks. I attended a meeting and did a lot of eating! Naturally, I gained a few pounds because of my meeting-eating trip. Thankfully, I didn’t forget to feed my mind. I brought with me Malcolm Gladwell’s two books: The Tipping Point and Blink.
On the plane home, I read Blink. It was subtitled “The Power of Thinking Without Thinking” but it could have been renamed as “The Power of First Impressions.”
In a Nutshell
In the Tipping Point, Gladwell looked at the journey that an idea or a product takes from its conception down to its Tipping Point-where suddenly, it becomes popular and creates significant changes. Blink is Gladwell’s dive into the consciousness of human beings–at the first instance where we get to meet a product, a sculpture, an idea or anything that could capture our attention. In short, he is exploring our first impressions.
The book is 273 pages long divided into eight chapters. In these eight chapters, Gladwell wrote about concept of think slicing and argued against overloading information in crucial moments, such as in a battlefield. He also looked at the way amateurs and experts form their first impressions and why the first impressions of experts may be worth more than rigorous and thorough scientific examinations. Of course, the author does not discredit the scientific method. It’s just that some experts have trained their instincts to make formed judgments in the first few minutes (or seconds) of a game or an art exhibit they witness.
Thin Slicing
The raw power of first impressions is manifested in the thin slicing. People can form judgments and evaluations based on a limited amount of information at the start of initial interaction. Gladwell illustrated this by taking the experiments of psychologist John Gottman who videotaped fifteen minutes of interaction between couples. Based on a carefully coded interpretation key, Gottman can accurately predict which among the couples would last and which ones wouldn’t. The psychologist did not have to look for ALL the information and cues in the conversations. He narrowed down the observation to the presence of a few negative emotions such as contempt and criticism. In a separate example, he also used another experiment, which shows that more information could be deduced from a person’s character by looking at his/her room than by asking that person’s friends.
In short, small things are indicators of bigger realities in a person or a couple’s character and relationship. By being able to identify these small things and how they relate to the big picture, we can successfully make good impressions and decisions.
When Not to Trust First Impressions
Gladwell argues that some of the best decisions are made without deeper thinking. In short, we should trust our first impressions. But there are instances that this does not work–in choosing a leader and dealing with customers in sales.
The author argued against trusting one’s instincts in dealing with questions of leadership, race and judging people who might or who might not buy a car. Prejudices and stereotypes are difficult issues to deal with. And if people would start trusting first impressions based on these, they might end up deciding against the best course of action.
In these cases, the concept or action of Blink would not work. Decision makers would need additional time to process information and make better decisions. After all, prejudices and stereotypes are bad bases for decisions. Gladwell though did not elaborate much how to overcome these bad first impressions to come up with more informed and better decisions.
Blink in the Heat of Battle
My favorite chapter in the book deals with warfare. The story of Paul Van Riper, general par excellence and a seasoned battle veteran, appealed to me as a case of a streetwise veteran versus armchair fighters. Gladwell devoted a number of pages describing a simulated a war game in which Riper played the rogue general. The Blue Team, his adversary, had all the advantages of technology, satellite imagery and other high tech gadgets for war. One thing they overlooked though–the rogue general would use unconventional means to defeat Blue Team. You can read about this at Wikipedia’s Millennium Challenge article.
Interestingly, the Blue Team wanted to gather every kind of information that pertains to the rogue general. The general, however, had to rely on old fashioned means to wage his war. Gladwell doesn’t really make it clear if the Rogue General used the concepts of Thin Slicing and Blink! but one thing is sure and here, Gladwell made his point well–too much information can lead people astray, especially in situations that call for quick decisions. Put simply, if band-aid solutions are needed, why go to the Emergency section of the hospital?
This also shows the benefit of small-scale operations against bureaucratic and cumbersome operations.
Blink only if you are Expert!
Blink, which is really the power of first impressions, will only work if you are already an expert in your field. Pretty much like the art critics and curators in the first chapter of this book. Gladwell gave the advice to nurture the unconscious part of the mind so as to make the best out of Thin-Slicing and snap decisions in the field. Admittedly, such argument would work. For amateurs, however, trusting in first impressions isn’t a very good proposition–they are bound to make mistakes.
On the whole, Gladwell delivered another good book in Blink! He provides case study after case study to bolster his argument and present his concepts. It’s an engaging and interesting read although I didn’t like it nearly as much as I loved the Tipping Point.
If you want to learn what other authors think about Blink, Michael R. LeGault wrote a book called “Think!: Why Crucial Decisions Can’t Be Made in the Blink of an Eye“. Perhaps I’ll add this to my book collection if I can find it in Philippine bookstores.