Accidental Guru - Malcolm Gladwell

Gladwell's new book, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking is the New Yorker writer's latest book, focusing on the phenomenon of how "our ability to read people's intentions is paralyzed in high-stress situations." His first book, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference moved him from a staff writer to a marketing guru - or even god. "His New Yorker articles have become reading for B-school students." However, when asked about the influence he has had on America, he reminds them that even best sellers reach less than 1% of Americans.

Yet, it's who he is reaching that has made the difference. Starbucks' Howard Schultz says the tipping-point is what "made" his company. Gladwell created a system of classification that is divided into "connectors, mavens and salesmen", and companies have redesigned their entire Relationship Management strategies to fit the model. Companies started hiring and deploying into the field "key influencers", and making The Tipping Point required reading. Simmons Market Research then "created the Tipping Point Segmentation System - syndicated research clients can use in order to understand how to reach the 12.5% of the U.S. population that falls within Gladwell's classification of tipping-point segments."

Yet, the concept of the tipping-point has been around for years, first by Thomas Schelling, as is acknowledged by Gladwell, and marketers have known and been utilizing this concept, only without Gladwell's trademark naming conventions (such as "momentary autism"). Gladwell believes that people "need some way to describe and name things...so I always like to try to come up with simple, sort of catchy ways of capturing complex ideas."

One of those life-changing moments for Gladwell came when he let his hair grow out into an Afro. Cops started pulling him over and even surrounded him when they thought he was a suspected rapist. Gladwell believes that we can retrain ourselves to "sort through first impressions to 'figure out which ones are important and which ones are screwing us up.'" Our thoughts come from reasonable and unreasonable memories, impressions and emotions and affect our reactions, and if we can learn to silence the irrational and extemporaneous influences, then our "rapid cognition" would improve.

About half of the Fortune 500 companies have CEOs 6 feet or taller "(only 14.5% of all American men are that tall)". Gladwell believes that's because we have an image of what a leader should look like, and that includes height. It also blinds us to other considerations.

Another example mentioned Herman Miller's ergonomic wonder, the Aeron, which was so "ugly" or distasteful to many inside and outside of the company because of its completely new look, but which eventually became their best-selling chair ever. If you don't make large leaps like Miller did, you end up doing "knockoff, me-too chairs." However, Gladwell advocates trusting the joint judgment of your staff in decision making, since there are 100 failures for every Herman Miller "gut" decision that paid off.

When HP brought Gladwell in as a consultant, the response was split. Some were relieved, while others panicked, because Gladwell was challenging lifelong belief systems.

Gladwell's attraction is also fodder for his detractors, who say he basically oversimplifies and uses glorified stories. But his main goal is to stimulate discussion, and he defends his "overreaching" or stretching of his stories on those grounds.

Some interesting points from Blink:
· Psychologists that were given more information about a patient felt more sure about their diagnoses. Only problem was that the diagnoses weren't necessarily right. "That very desire for confidence is precisely what ends up undermining the accuracy of their decision."

The Military was shocked to find out that they could be outmaneuvered by an enemy team trained with commodities traders. Why? The enemy's ability to make snap judgments resulted in better decisions than the well-trained armed forces. "The enemy has gotten used to 'making a thousand instant decisions in any hour.'"

Which doctors get sued? The ones that spend less time with their patients and speak in domineering tones.

People's bedrooms tell a lot about a person - how they want to be perceived, "behavioral tendencies, and how they like to make themselves feel."

BRAINSTORM:
Knowing that snap judgments are first (not even second) reactions for people, how are you being perceived by people who do not know you? How is your company being perceived?


Have you asked anyone outside of your circle what you project at first glance?


Gladwell's nomenclature has taken the world by storm. Notice how a unique, innovative and appropriate name for something can have such an effect on people? They remember it, first of all, and then, it allows them to grasp a deeper understanding of something that previously was mired in misunderstanding or mystery. What kind of unique wording could be created in regard to your business, or the lessons you have learned while being in your business? What trends have you seen emerge over and over again, and what type of analogy fits the description? Play with words and names and see if you can't "coin" a phrase that appropriately suits your business, and try it out in your next communication with your clients.


The Tipping Point reasons that once you access 12.5% of your target market, the rest will follow. He speaks about individual types of people that influence the decisions of others. Knowing this, and the way companies have restructured what they do and how they do it to incorporate this information, what can you do to attain that 12.5% status? Where would you go to find out about how to do it?


Gladwell believes that you can learn to bypass snap judgments by recognizing the tendency and disciplining yourself to sort through the erroneous influences so you can find the accurate data. How can someone do that? Who do you make snap judgments about historically? How would it affect your business if you could control the information upon which you base your initial reactions and thoughts and attitudes?


Herman Miller is a successful "go with your gut" story, but there are 100 who fail where they succeeded. So Gladwell says that staff decisions help balance things out. Do you have a staff of people (paid or voluntary) that can help you bounce ideas and temper your initial reactions to the unfamiliar?