We've all made quick decisions that took only a split second, whether at work, or at home, or while playing sports. But have you ever wondered what goes on in your mind and brain during that few seconds? Blink is a book by Malcolm Gladwell, the author of The Tipping Point, that attempts to answer that question. The book discusses several theories behind those "blink" moments.

The ability to understand the whole from smaller parts is known as Thin Slicing. For example, when you're walking in downtown looking for a place to eat, you're thin slicing as you walk by different restaurants. Perhaps you look at the people eating inside the restaurant, or perhaps you look at the general cleanness of the place. Whatever you do, conciously or unconciously, you're making a series of quick decisions to decide where to eat. You're thin slicing.

While thin slicing, it's important to understand what to look for, and what information you can or cannot get. Using the same restaurant example, one can probably tell how expensive the restaurant is by observing the way people dress. However, you probably can't get the same information by simply looking at the name of the restaurant. Yet, the name of the restaurant can, for the most part, tell what kind of cuisine the restaurant serves, though the way people dress cannot give you that information (unless it's very unique, of course).

It follows that you can usually make good judgements in your area of expertise since you already know, mostly unconciously, what to look for based on past experience. For example, singers can judge other singers, and basketball players can judge other basketball players. Even software programmers can judge other software programmers, which explains the success of Microsoft and Google in hiring the right talent.

It's important to understand one's weaknesses when making "blink" decisions. Given two singers with equal talent, for example, most of us perceive the one with a better look to be a better singer, at least initially. Sometimes we may even perceive the one with less talent to be a better singer simply because he or she has the right look for a singer. The author calls it the Warren Harding Effect, in which one votes for a handsome but unqualified president. Understanding your own weaknesses allow you to make better "blink" decisions.

There are many other factors and examples that Blink discusses. As with the Tipping Point, it's a very interesting and pleasant reading, and I highly recommend it.