Is there a more beautiful example of a snap judgement?  This is the gift of training and expertise – the ability to extract an enormous amount of meaningful information from the very thinnest slice of experience.  To a novice, that incident would have gone by in a blur.  But it wasn’t a blur at all.  Every moment – every blink – is composed of a series of discrete moving parts, and every one of those parts offers an opportunity for intervention, for reform, and for correction.  Gladwell’s Blink p.241

The above quote was the final paragraph in a piece about a Police Officer who, in the moment, decided not to shoot a young offender who pulled a gun.  This is a powerful paragraph on its own.  Yet, in my mind, it is also serves as a fitting summary for Blink.  In understanding and trusting our instantaneous responses to stimuli, [in addition to Police Officers, Gladwell references Firefighters, Improv Teams, even Voters] we must move towards self-reflection and self-training to best partner with our impulse thoughts leading to decisions.

This is my first 20-in-’12/’13 book review…and I even hesitate to call it a review.  Really, it is not a review.  My reviews will not be exhaustive.  They are not a replacement for the book.  Rather, they are my quick take on what stuck out in my mind.  It’s a flashback for what was meaningful to me.  Please hear me – right or wrong – they are my take-a-ways.

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