The key is constant awareness of your ability to thin-slice and think without thinking. Gladwell participated in an experiment to test whether he would respond more positively to images of white people with positive or negative words describing them, or pictures of black people with positive or negative words associated with the image.
Of course, as most of us would, he predicted there would be no difference in the time it took him to assign positive and negative words to the pictures of black or white people. He was wrong. The test results indicated a subtle preference to associate positive words with images of white people. Gladwell was particularly struck by the results of this test as his mother is Jamaican and he would have expected himself to be more color blind. He cites similar results of tests assigning gender-biased words such as "entrepreneur or homemaker", with male and female connotations in our culture, to pictures of males and females.
Applying Gladwell’s Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
The key take away from the book is the necessity for each of us to be aware of and control our thin-slicing. After reading Blink, I’m more convinced than ever that we make snap decisions about situations and people, unconsciously, that bring into play all of our biases. All candidates for positions deserve the same treatment and the same attention to factors other than race, religion, appearance and size.
Any decisions that we make based on our thin-slicing must be accompanied by the recognition that we do make important decisions using this process - unconsciously. Take the time to gather a larger pool of data before going with your initial gut reaction. While you may be right, you can be wrong. And, there is the constant opportunity to unconsciously discriminate, make poor hiring and networking choices and to trust or distrust employee stories for all of the wrong reasons. We are challenged to work with people who are not just like us. After we notice the differences (blink), we need to constantly demonstrate that we honor and appreciate the differences.
At the same time, Gladwell tells us not to endlessly develop more and more information. Sometimes, we need to trust the "blink", the thin-slice decisions that we make. He gives, as one example, the story of the Getty Museum buying an ancient Greek kouros which turned out to be a more modern forgery. Many outside experts were consulted and scientists tested the material of the kouros for authenticity. The outside expert information pointed to an authentic statue.
Others, more involved in the art and collectibles industry, had reservations about the ten million dollar kouros. One expert cited the kouros as looking too fresh. Another objected saying, "You haven't purchased this yet, have you." They "thin-sliced" their view of the kouros and found "something" not right.
Gladwell encourages us to cultivate our ability to thin-slice by spending time with people who are not just like us. If our thin-slicing, snap judgments involve things such as art works or situations such as burning buildings, confrontations with suspected law-breakers and/or instantaneous assessments of safety situations at work, total immersion in the field helps as do years of experience and study.
I recommend you purchase and read the book, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. Compare Prices. It has serious implications for all of us every day at work and in our personal lives as well.
You will also want to take a look at Malcolm Gladwell’s earlier book, The Tipping Point. Compare Prices.
Additional Recommended Reading:
