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In his landmark 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. Blink 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 other are consistently inept? Why do some people follow their instincts to win, while other 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?

In 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. Blink 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.

Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience and psychology and displaying all of the brilliance that made The Tipping Point a classic, Blink changes the way you understand every decision you make. Never again will you think about thinking the same way.

This book has become widely popular, even to the point where stores were selling out of copies before the holidays. People have been flocking to this title with anxious anticipation. My pre-read mentality was slightly different because of what I thought about Gladwell's other book, The Tipping Point, but I will go into more depth on that later.

I cannot explain why my expectations were what they were, but whatever the reason(s) behind them, they were not met. I happened to believe that this book, as different from the author's other, might actually be about skills and techniques to practice in an effort to better one's self in the art of making snap decisions. That is the premise of the book; ideas around making educated decisions quickly rather than after exhaustive research efforts.

As I began the book I became increasingly afraid it would simply be a collection of anecdotes about people who are able to make smart decisions in the blink of an eye. You have to figure that no one would buy a book that was just stories about people who are better at what they do than you are at what you do, right? ...Right? Or maybe such a book would fly off the shelves. Weird.

Where I looked to find examples of what other people have done in their lives to better prepare themselves to make decisions I found story after story about experts in respective fields. These people have not trained in some strange Zen custom to be able to focus their mind on the correct decision; they have simply spent countless hours at their craft. The only reason these people can make snap decisions and eliminate the time otherwise spent on researching the situation is because they devoted the earlier portion of their lives to that research.

The idea of the book, from how I interpreted it may be summed up as this: If you want to be able to decrease the amount of time it takes you to make a decision, whether it be in your business life, your personal life, or your spiritual life, all you need to do is know your product. Take time with each and every aspect. With time you will by default become so experienced with most situations that making decisions will be relatively routine.

The subjects of Gladwell's examples are the tops in their industries because they have become experts in what they do...over time. And there is the key point. You, too, can make snap decisions if you become knowledgeable on the topic. But that takes time.

The issue from The Tipping Point that I found had reincarnated itself in Blink was depth. Malcolm Gladwell writes, in both books, about what I consider to be good ideas. He has my attention. I desire to read what he has to say on the subjects. The level of his research is never questioned. I can tell that he is very thorough as he gathers the information for his books. He falls short, however, in analysis. The ideas are great, and the information is there, but at the end of both books I felt wanting for more expansion. Maybe it was a flaw in my reading that I felt some topics could have used more elaboration, but then again maybe you will agree.

I sound as if I am down on the book, and for how it contrasted with my expectations of it, I am. I am not, however, completely dissatisfied with it in its entirety. I found the details of how people have carved out their particular niche very fascinating. The research done by the author was impressive. The variety of examples he brought together under the umbrella of decision making was what interested me most. If only knowing the many different categories that food experts use to rate mayonnaise could help me in my life's pursuit...

As a short book that can be read rather quickly, even by slow readers such as myself, I still think Blink is worth reading if only from the perspective of the curious. I believe the book has more to offer than that, but it is a good starting point in your motivation to read.

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