Blink Positive

Analysis paralysis. If you have this disease, Blink is a good book to read. In short it says, you can decide, and make the right decision, in the blink of an eye, without analyzing loads of data. It says great decision makers "perfect art of 'thin slicing' - knowing the very few things that matter."

"It's a book about rapid cognition, about the kind of thinking that happens in a blink of an eye. When you meet someone for the first time, or walk into a house you are thinking of buying, or read the first few sentences of a book, your mind takes about two seconds to jump to a series of conclusions. Well, "Blink" is a book about those two seconds."

Blink tells me, "dude, conclude the analysis... what comes to your mind first? Go with it!" I found this book useful in dealing with people... especially interviews. Just thin slice... get hold of a small and relevant piece of info and 'blink' the whole. The warmth in conversation, enthusiasm, a messy desk, an inappropriate comment, lack of response to your mail... all have their unique and unmistakable signatures. Consider much simpler example. If you ask an easy question like 'name the financial statments of a company.' Two guys may give the same answer . But you can develop 'signatures' of a guy who has reasonable knowledge of the topic and the guy who does not. I tried this multiple times. There is no need to ask further questions.

Turn this the other way around. What will others think of you when they see the 'signatures' you leave? It's scary because people draw conclusions about you left and right. That's why, Blink raises the bar. If you want to make a favorable impression, you have to be always at your best. Short-term averages are irrelavant. What matters is your long-term average. Did you eat well today? Don't be satisfied because your body reflects your long-term average. Not today's. Not this week's.

Can you change how people blink you? Each time you do better than what others expect, they blink.. sort of update the 'database' with an actual eye blink. Observe. You do better or you do different stuff than you used to, people blink. It could be positive or negative. The more positive blinks you get, the better it is for you because they are thinking higher and higher about you. This is connected with 'under promise and over deliver' thingie. If you would like to do something, don't tell every one that you will. If you do, it becomes a promise. And people are checking out whether you can live up to it. Don't promise, or promise low. But give your best shot. And exceed expectations. They blink positive. Many positive blinks put together will give you a relationship based on trust and confidence. "Exceed expectations" was one of the three things Rajat Gupta spoke about during our graduation ceremony.

Overall, it's a good book to read.

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