I just finished Malcolm Gladwell's book, "Blink,"
Tag-lined "Learning to think without thinking."
I have to say, this was a necessary read.
Often i can get bogged down with the details.
With every aspect of analysis.
Tirelessly debating the pros and cons.
Example:
A few weeks back, I went to Target with the intentions
And the cash to buy a TV.
With Sonja by my side,
And a movie picked out for the new screen,
I managed to talk myself out of buying the TV
And into buying a pizza.
Gladwell's book is not so much about not thinking.
But more or less about training your gut instinct.
He provides an example in the first pages of the book:
A museum was presented with a rare statue.
Pre-Roman Empire, unknown artist, beautifully made type of rock.
The museum was skeptical.
There were less than 20 of these statues remaining.
And none in this condition.
But the museum was curious. And they needed a show-piece.
So, because of the rarity of the statue, the museum had every aspect inspected,
Every dimension analyzed,
Every detail looked over.
It was compared to other works.
Its history was learned
Its insides were tested.
The geologists, historians, and scientists agreed.
Everything checked out.
The museum bought the piece.
They then took the piece to the art experts to show off their purchase.
All the experts hated it.
They said, "Something is not right."
"I hope you didn't buy it."
Turns out, the statue was a replica.
Because the museum ignored their suspicion,
Because the museum wanted this statue to be true.
Because the museum needed a show-piece so badly,
It wasted millions of dollars on a fake.
Blink is that moment in time where subconsciously we make up our mind.
That instant where snap judgments are made, where emotions exist, where thinking is natural.
The moment when we know that "something is not right."
Or the moment when we know "That something is special."
That moment is quick.
It happens in a "Blink."
And all our past experiences,
All our current conditions,
All our knowledge and emotion go into that moment.
And it all combines to create a notion of instinct.
But we can choose to ignore our instincts.
We can want something so badly
That our feeling for the situation,
Our ethos about the experience,
Fades into the night like lightning in a distant storm.
We can train our instincts.
We can study art endlessly.
We can know history.
We can even know the rock.
But when our instinct screams, "no"
And our heart screams louder, "yes,"
Can our instinct persevere?
Gladwell hints at this throughout the book,
But stays focused on the idea of the snap decision,
Blink of an eye moment.
However, I'm much more curious as to how
And when we decide to relax in that moment.
To trust our gut. To follow our suspicion. To go with instinct.
Because wisdom not only lies in instinct, but also in timing.
My break from Time Magazine has lead me to not only read 1 book, but 2 books.
The second book i picked up was:
"A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" by Donald Miller.
I have to confess, I'm a Donald Miller fan.
I read three other books by the author.
And i enjoyed each of them, none more than "Through Painted Deserts."
Anyway, I enjoy Donald Miller because his diction is very verbal.
It sounds like a conversation.
It doesn't sound like a book,
It sounds like a recorded discussion.
And so I was excited for this read.
And it did not disappoint.
"A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" is a book,
About story and a movie.
But mainly story.
It's about how we are all living a story.
And our stories have meaning.
And how those stories also give meaning.
With a hint of post-modern thinking,
Miller describes life as a series of stories that make up something bigger.
A corporate story. A Story if you will. The Human Story
And these smaller experiences give meaning to the larger Story.
The trick is to live a life with stories worth telling.
Experiences that deserve to become memories.
Not just to stockpile memories like water in anticipation of Y2K,
But to prove at the end that you lived.
To show that you managed your life as well as your money.
To provide value to your breaths.
But Miller takes it farther than an encouragement to do something.
He reminds us that we need to do something that is something bigger.
Life isn't about our story. It is about our Story.
And how your experience fits into it.
Because life is not lived independently, but intertwined.
So live your life with people.
Make memories with others.
Incorporate in the something bigger, corporate, Human Story.
And in the End, that Story will surely be memorable.
I am a subscriber to Time Magazine.
I like reading Time because I feel connected to the world.
But I have found that after reading the weekly edition,
I have no time to read anything else.
So, I decided to take a break from it.
But I didn't want to take a break from reading.
So, I picked up a book my sister got me for Christmas:
"The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell.
Explaining how small things make big differences,
Gladwell defines the point in which trends become more,
Epidemics that seem to immerse culture.
These epidemics are supported by three types of people,
Along with other variables: Salesmen, Mavens, and Connectors.
Mavens know everything,
Salesmen convince everyone,
And Connectors tell everyone.
This book simply sheds light on important truths,
Truths that are rarely discussed outside of marketing meetings.
It explains that the news station you watch may affect how you vote,
That the neighborhood you live in affects what you wear,
That the smallest details in life actually have large affects in behavior.
And so I wonder: What small thing has shaped my behavior?
Or even what small thing has not shaped my behavior?
The most memorable proof presented in the book
Deals with New York's 90's Subway Culture.
Crime was rampant, graffiti covered cars, and people rarely paid.
If you haven't noticed, those conditions have significantly improved.
But it wasn't an increased presence in Law Enforcement.
It wasn't that all of New York decided at once to clean up the underground.
Instead, the New York Transit Authority made it a priority to clean graffiti.
Graffiti was the key to lowering crime rate, increasing subway revenue, and a cleaner underground.
Cleanly painted cars signaled that New York cared about public transportation.
Small things make a significant difference.
New York still has graffiti.
We all do.
But before each train leaves,
It is inspected, cleaned, and painted as necessary.
New York identified the "Tipping Point" that changed New York Transit for the foreseeable future.
I can only hope I can identify that point in my life.
