Knowingo
The cover of Blink

Blink

Malcolm Gladwell, 2005

Snap judgments made in the first two seconds can beat months of analysis, and can also go badly wrong. Learn when to trust them and how to train them.

Get the app Read on the web

12 parts, about 21 minutes to read.

Why read it

  • Shows through cases like art experts and a tennis coach that very fast judgments can rival careful analysis
  • Explains when snap judgments fail, through hidden bias, extreme stress, too little time or too much information
  • Argues we can train and control snap judgments, as orchestras did by auditioning behind a screen

Who it is for

  • Managers who hire and rely on gut feeling
  • Readers curious how instinct and analysis work together
  • Readers interested in bias in hiring, policing and the courts

What the summary covers

  1. The Statue That Didn’t Look Right2 min
  2. The Theory of Thin Slices2 min
  3. The Locked Door2 min
  4. The Warren Harding Error2 min
  5. Paul Van Riper’s Big Victory2 min
  6. A Crisis in the ER2 min
  7. Kenna’s Dilemma2 min
  8. Seven Seconds in the Bronx3 min
  9. Listening with Your Eyes1 min
  10. Afterword: The Lesson of Chancellorsville1 min
  11. When to Blink And When to Think1 min
  12. A Call to Action1 min

About the author

  • Malcolm GladwellBritish Canadian journalist and New Yorker staff writer
    • Born 3 September 1963 in Fareham, Hampshire, England
    • History degree from Trinity College, University of Toronto, 1984
    • Covered business and science for The Washington Post 1987 to 1996
    • Member of the Order of Canada, 2011

More books like this