Thursday, November 19, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
What I Learnt from Malcolm Gladwell
A friend of mine introduced met Malcolm Gladwell's book a year ago. I wasn't a keen reader, so I didn't bother to pick the book up. Recently, I discovered audio books and that gave me the push to listen to his books. In fact, I listened to three of them - Tipping Point, Blink and Outliers. I particularly like Outliers, but I shall attempt to give a brief summary of what I gained from reading these books. =)
Outliers:
I think that Outliers is a book that gives hope to people. It attempts to explain how some successful people become successful. It attributes their success to hardwork and practice instead of pure genius in their genes.
Gladwell pointed out that all successful people have at least 10,000 hours of practice in what they do best and the earlier you start, the earlier you'll reach the magic hours, preferably at your age of prime.
Although IQ does matter, one does not need an exceptionally high IQ to achieve things. An average Joe with an average IQ can succeed just as much as a person with an high IQ can fail. Gladwell's example of the height of baskerballers rings clear in my head. You do not need to be exceptionally tall to slam dunk. All you need is to be tall enough. Taller than that and it may even impede your performance.
Other factors also influence a person's success. One crucial factor is a person's family background and parents. Parents form their children's core principles and values. These determine if the child would be a fighter or wimp. Without drive, even the smartest person in the world cannot succeed.
Another important factor is luck, which we cannot control. The era and locale we are born in, the opportunities we have based on the status of our family and the people we meet, all plays an important role in deciding our fate.
Blink:
Blink talks about the power of snap judgements - how our instinctive and unconscious decisions can overrule our conscious mind. When a person is so skilled in a particular field, he/she can make right decisions without even much though. It's like your brain is conditioned so much that it has its own reflexes.
Gladwell mentioned that sometimes too much description and purposeful thinking can be counter effective decision-making. He gave an example of how people can recognise faces when they see them, but when asked to describe the faces, more often than not, they have problems doing it.
However, Gladwell also pointed out that instinctive decisions and reactions can also lead to dire consequences, especially when people are in a state of fear. He compares the state of fear to the temporary experience of autism - a condition whereby people are unable to feel for others and understand other people's actions or thoughts.
When in fear, people may forget things that they usually do. For example, one may forget how to call for the ambulance or even the number of the ambulance service during emergencies. During such times, people leave it all to their unconscious minds to do a series of actions that are almost automatic. Gladwell gave an example of how some policemen shot an innocent black guy due to fear and preconceptions of black people.
Stereotyping is another unconscious thinking people has. We group people based on how they look even though some of us may refuse to admit. This in itself is not a bad thing if we are aware of this unconscious grouping and make sound decisions that are as fair as possible.
Lastly, Gladwell talked about a process called thin-slicing and the reading of facial expressions. I was most intrigued by this topic. Thin-slicing divides a series of actions or speech into smaller components for analysis. It is said that by observing the specific expressions and muscle movements of people's faces, one can predict a lot of things about a person's character to a really detailed extent! I am very eager to learn this skill. =P
Tipping Point:
Tipping Point is rather market-oriented. It talks about how social epidemics can be created - how to make buzz and have an impact on society to a large extent.
It is filled with examples of how 3 factors contribute to the spread of information:
1. The Law of the Few
2. The Stickiness Factor
3. The Power of Context
The law of the few explains that most social epidemics are caused by a few influential people. These people can be classified into Mavens, Connectors and Salespersons. Mavens are info-collectors. They crave information in something they are passionate about and they share it with people without ulterior motives. Connectors are people who have huge networks. They are able to pass information they receive to many people and usually, it includes other influential people. Salespersons are people who are good at persuading. They are capable of converting non-believers to believers. A person can be neither these there or a combination of any of these three types.
The stickiness factor talks about the information that is being spread. In order for it to be sticky and stay in the mind of people, it must grab attention but yet convey a message that is meaningful and relevant to the target audience. Both work hand-in-hand - without grabbing attention, the message is never read. Without a meaningful message, audience cannot make sense of it and ignores it.
Lastly, the power of context is also about relevance. A message that is ignored in a place and time may create a huge fad in another. Hence, choosing the right message for the right people at the right place and time is crucial to success.
Outliers:
I think that Outliers is a book that gives hope to people. It attempts to explain how some successful people become successful. It attributes their success to hardwork and practice instead of pure genius in their genes.
Gladwell pointed out that all successful people have at least 10,000 hours of practice in what they do best and the earlier you start, the earlier you'll reach the magic hours, preferably at your age of prime.
Although IQ does matter, one does not need an exceptionally high IQ to achieve things. An average Joe with an average IQ can succeed just as much as a person with an high IQ can fail. Gladwell's example of the height of baskerballers rings clear in my head. You do not need to be exceptionally tall to slam dunk. All you need is to be tall enough. Taller than that and it may even impede your performance.
Other factors also influence a person's success. One crucial factor is a person's family background and parents. Parents form their children's core principles and values. These determine if the child would be a fighter or wimp. Without drive, even the smartest person in the world cannot succeed.
Another important factor is luck, which we cannot control. The era and locale we are born in, the opportunities we have based on the status of our family and the people we meet, all plays an important role in deciding our fate.
Blink:
Blink talks about the power of snap judgements - how our instinctive and unconscious decisions can overrule our conscious mind. When a person is so skilled in a particular field, he/she can make right decisions without even much though. It's like your brain is conditioned so much that it has its own reflexes.
Gladwell mentioned that sometimes too much description and purposeful thinking can be counter effective decision-making. He gave an example of how people can recognise faces when they see them, but when asked to describe the faces, more often than not, they have problems doing it.
However, Gladwell also pointed out that instinctive decisions and reactions can also lead to dire consequences, especially when people are in a state of fear. He compares the state of fear to the temporary experience of autism - a condition whereby people are unable to feel for others and understand other people's actions or thoughts.
When in fear, people may forget things that they usually do. For example, one may forget how to call for the ambulance or even the number of the ambulance service during emergencies. During such times, people leave it all to their unconscious minds to do a series of actions that are almost automatic. Gladwell gave an example of how some policemen shot an innocent black guy due to fear and preconceptions of black people.
Stereotyping is another unconscious thinking people has. We group people based on how they look even though some of us may refuse to admit. This in itself is not a bad thing if we are aware of this unconscious grouping and make sound decisions that are as fair as possible.
Lastly, Gladwell talked about a process called thin-slicing and the reading of facial expressions. I was most intrigued by this topic. Thin-slicing divides a series of actions or speech into smaller components for analysis. It is said that by observing the specific expressions and muscle movements of people's faces, one can predict a lot of things about a person's character to a really detailed extent! I am very eager to learn this skill. =P
Tipping Point:
Tipping Point is rather market-oriented. It talks about how social epidemics can be created - how to make buzz and have an impact on society to a large extent.
It is filled with examples of how 3 factors contribute to the spread of information:
1. The Law of the Few
2. The Stickiness Factor
3. The Power of Context
The law of the few explains that most social epidemics are caused by a few influential people. These people can be classified into Mavens, Connectors and Salespersons. Mavens are info-collectors. They crave information in something they are passionate about and they share it with people without ulterior motives. Connectors are people who have huge networks. They are able to pass information they receive to many people and usually, it includes other influential people. Salespersons are people who are good at persuading. They are capable of converting non-believers to believers. A person can be neither these there or a combination of any of these three types.
The stickiness factor talks about the information that is being spread. In order for it to be sticky and stay in the mind of people, it must grab attention but yet convey a message that is meaningful and relevant to the target audience. Both work hand-in-hand - without grabbing attention, the message is never read. Without a meaningful message, audience cannot make sense of it and ignores it.
Lastly, the power of context is also about relevance. A message that is ignored in a place and time may create a huge fad in another. Hence, choosing the right message for the right people at the right place and time is crucial to success.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Friday, July 31, 2009
Janus' WKW-SCI Convocation 2009 On-Stage Photos
Got many requests for higher resolution photos, good enough to print, so I've provided the link to download the hi-res photos. =)
Click here to download Janus' WKW-SCI Convocation 2009 On-Stage Photos:
https://rcpt.yousendit.com/720439386/70645bf456f7a0144b619dd52b53ea69
Click here to download Janus' WKW-SCI Convocation 2009 On-Stage Photos:
https://rcpt.yousendit.com/
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
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