The landmark book that has revolutionized the way we understand leadership and decision making - from number-one best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell.

In his landmark best seller 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 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?

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.

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Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Malcolm Gladwell (Author, Narrator), Hachette Audio (Publisher)

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From the manufacturer

Listening Length	7 hours and 45 minutes
Author	Malcolm Gladwell
Narrator	Malcolm Gladwell
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	April 05, 2005
Publisher	Hachette Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B00097DWY0
Best Sellers Rank	#339 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #4 in Business Decision Making & Problem Solving #5 in Medical Cognitive Psychology #8 in Social Psychology

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A terrible collection of cherry picked anecdotes and conflicting data

Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2018

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A terrible collection of cherry picked anecdotes and conflicting data, all carefully laid out to appeal to the instant gratification of the human ego.

Gladwell had made a chunk of change telling us we can "blink" and know the truest of truths... that our guts are inherently correct (well, except the many times he points out how incorrect they are, due to racism (except when he back pedals and says maybe the people in that example aren't racist, actually), sexism (except when he says it's possible sexism was not, in fact, a factor in such and such examples), and other biases (which the book both promises to teach us to control and says we have *no ability* to control), and that by "thin-slicing" (making use of the "adaptive unconscious" of our mind, which, incidentally, he says repeatedly can never be unlocked) we can be better people, fight wars "better", and solve the problems of the world.

It's a book for the casual reader, so the stories he uses to back up his arguments are often terribly irresponsible anecdotes. The studies he references are rarely detailed sufficiently so that the reader could know whether they'd had any controls, had been repeated and peer reviewed, etc. They're riddled with opinion and assumptions about results, and we're left to assume the lens from which he makes these statements is pure and holy.

The best take away from this self help quickie is that some people will, as a result of spending a dozen or so hours reading it and thinking about their minds and how they work, will be, going forward, more introspective, which is not a bad thing. The worst take away is that some (and I fear most) people will glean only the basest concept from his promises: that their guts are always right, leaving them less introspective and more irrationally bold and self-satisfied.

232 people found this helpful

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Larry Gross

Thought provoking, revolutionary insights...difficult to utilize

Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2017

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This is an incredible tour de force with detailed research and eye-opening, and often disheartening insights into our flawed personal decision making processes. If read rightly, I believe this will thrust you into a new way of thinking and cause you to strive to develop ways to overcome unintentional biases and even hope to improve when you "trust your gut." Read wrongly, it will either cause frustration and hopelessness or anger and resentment. Gladwell does not give a prescription here. He doesn't provide a blueprint or a roadmap. He educates and leaves it to us to see where in our day to day we might be mind blind or are relying too heavily on data rather than instinct (or vice versa). It is truly up to us to take this information and use it as a lens to examine our own thinking and search to improve how we take what we see and use it to make better choices.

86 people found this helpful

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Chris

Interesting, but could've been written in 30 pages. Look up a summary online instead; spend your time on more practical material

Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2016

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This book touches on a brilliant idea: we make decisions rapidly, even if we can't always explain exactly HOW we make those decisions. Gladwell does an excellent job at providing evidence to back up his claims. Really... he provides a plethora of examples to support these claims. In my opinion, WAY too many examples.

I'm a bottom-line kind of person and I don't read for fun; I read to gain applicable knowledge. Gladwell proved his concept in the first 30-50 pages and that was good enough for me. He then proceeded to continue proving the concept for another 200 pages. I hardly learned how to actually apply the concepts of rapid-cognition from this book and I'm annoyed at how much of my time was wasted. I wish he proved the concept in 30-50 pages and followed it up with actual ways to take advantage of that concept.

This book verified something that I believed to be true (rapid-cognition) without providing ways to practically exploit the theory. I'm not buying anything else of Gladwell's, but I would recommend looking up the sparknotes/summary of this book.

220 people found this helpful

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R. Feenstra

Maybe his thesis is incorrect?

Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2018

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I guess what immediately caused me to doubt the author's thesis (the first two seconds) is his introductory story of the Getty Kouros. He assumes Zeri, Harrison, Hoving, and Dontas were correct in their "intuitive" conclusion. But the fact is, the piece is still on display at the Getty and there are good people on both sides. The Getty concludes it is one or the other, ancient or a modern forgery. No one really knows. So the two second intuition in his first example has not been proven to be accurate. I guess he should have used a better illustration to make his point. Nevertheless, he told the story well and I am compelled to read the rest of the book because of it, which is why I have rated it a 3.

32 people found this helpful

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Truthfield

Not anything really helpful in a skeptical world.

Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2018

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This book was recommended to me because I told someone I trust my instincts and I was actually disappointed in it because it was kind of more geared towards the negative when actually I think it is more helpful in this day and age to trust your instinct in the more positive way. Believe in magic and good more, less skeptical and scrutiny.

29 people found this helpful

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Juliana D.

Lengthy and repetitive

Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2019

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This book should only be the first two chapters. The author was very redundant through out the rest of the book. Very predictable....
Bottom line: By the end of very story I already knew what he was going to say about snap judgment. I REALLY had to force myself to finish reading this book, not worth my time and most importantly, it didn’t add anything to my life.

27 people found this helpful

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becky6703

Wow! Just Wow! Engaging Read You Won't Want to Put Down!

Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2016

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This is a read for an Ethics and the Media class. Mind-blowing! Truly a fantastic read and I feel like I learned a lot about how different types of thinking give us better results in different scenarios. The stories within are fascinating and the entire class raved about our favoritess and how incredible the processes worked. Really makes you look at the world differently, and it a good way. A classmate had read another Gladwell title - I am excited to find that this author has more to read - I will definitely be checking out his other titles! I have loaned my copy to several friends who have all been just as impressed. Fantastic read for sure!

38 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

harper

Who is convinced by this?

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 25, 2019

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Who is convinced by this? I am about 50 pages in and cannot see any argument beyond one which says those hugely immersed in one field may build up some intuitive feel for experience in that field. That view rather flies on the face of the thin slicing idea. The insistent tone that reassures the reader that something has very definitely been proven somewhat serves to undermine the credibility.
Anyhow, i am only 50 or so pages in and notwithstanding it somewhat defeats the argument, i will not rush to judgement and will read the rest of the book

11 people found this helpful

Ian Smith

Based on wrong assumptions

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 6, 2018

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Malcolm Gladwell writes well, but his arguments are flawed. For example, he truly believes the IAT is a valid test - but it has been proven multiple times by top psychologists to be scientifically flawed and useless for practical purposes. Take that out, and his argument falls apart.

9 people found this helpful

James O' Brien

Makes you think a little differently

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 16, 2018

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This was the second Gladwell book I read. The arguments are a little more subtle than Outliers, but just as compelling. People have said that he labours the point in this book. I disagree - in fact, he presents both the positive and negative aspects of instinctive decision making (almost) equally. As a result, we’re left wondering when the right time is to trust our intuition. This question is answered in the last chapter and afterword, which ties together the preceding anecdotes neatly. Worth reading.

8 people found this helpful

Ian R Diston

Rubbish

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 14, 2018

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I managed to get half way through and then gave up : & I still don't know what it was about !!!

9 people found this helpful

Daniel Jenkins

An insightful book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 11, 2014

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I bought the ebook version and found this book full of insightful experiences by the author to demonstrate how we should not be thinking things through to much. We all spend our time analysing everything when we should learn to judge and pay attention our instinct and first impressions instead of dismissing them.

Some very interesting examples to get you thinking about the 'blink' reaction from different areas of the authors life and experiences. It has certainly made me think and I've found myself trusting my first thoughts more often without having to re-think things which alter our perceptions through over thinking. I've found myself googling many of the experients and tests he mentions in order rewatch them as many examples featured in a leadership workshop I went to.

Definitely worth a read to expand the way we think.

15 people found this helpful

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