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You’re
interviewing a job applicant. Her resume is fantastic and she
is saying all the right things. But something is bothering
you. You can’t quite put a finger on why. You just don’t
have a good feeling about this person. Something about her
seems dishonest.
Do you trust
your instincts about her and tell her that she’s not right for
the job? Or do you ignore those instincts and trust her words
and her resume?
How we
should
think about evaluating these gut feelings is the
subject of “Blink”,
a fascinating new book by Malcolm Gladwell. The book is
mandatory reading for anyone who wants to better understand
how humans communicate.
Gladwell’s last
book, “The Tipping Point” was a surprise best-seller that
focused on how small things can make a big difference. For
example, cleaning graffiti off of subway cars can actually lead
to widespread crime reduction throughout a city.
Now Gladwell
has focused his attention on the science of how we make snap
judgments. As Gladwell points out, our gut instincts can be
extremely trustworthy depending on the situation.
At
Speechworks, we loved the book for its many insights into how
we communicate and make decisions in business and in life. The
book includes many wonderful stories about how we
communicate. For example:
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Warren G. Harding ascended to the Presidency primarily
because he had an intangible quality of leadership presence,
though very little real political talent. In other words, he
looked and sounded good. But he had nothing valuable to say and was
considered one of our worst presidents.
-
Many
successful used car salesmen win a lot of business by being
careful not to judge customers by how they look. Just
because a kid walks into the showroom floor with a ring in
his nose doesn’t mean that he can’t afford a car. It’s a
nice lesson in importance of not judging a book by its
cover.
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Our minds
are amazingly good at interpreting facial expressions. Gladwell leaves no doubt that we are all mind-readers.
Gladwell
does a wonderful job of bringing complicated psychological
studies to life with stories and vivid detail. So don’t
over-think this decision. Pick up "Blink". You’ll be happy did.
At
Speechworks we help our clients learn how to communicate in a
way that connects and persuades. If you’re interested in
becoming a great communicator give us a call at 404-266-0888
or check out our website at
www.speechworks.net |
