BLINK!!! About This Page:

[Sandra Bostwick]

This chapter left me wondering how to tell the difference between those decisions you need to make in a snap and those you need to ponder.

In the war scenario, the author says "The decisive factor is how you take apart your adversary's system." OK, but that takes time and thought!

I think maybe that step is like Erik memorizing his algorythms, BUT that takes time! I guess my personal question is, just WHEN does rapid cognition kick in?

Now, I've been thinking about the analogy that good improvisors accept everything that happens to them. (Bad improvisers block action, good improvisers develop action.)

I put that to a test recently, while working with a team of people on a project and the project, after a year, is ready to move forward. Then I suddenly found out that the team of people would be splitting up and I would not have access to both any longer.

I made a conscious decision, because the project itself is time driven, to breeze right past "Oh, how could this happen!" and go to a gut decision. I ended up re-evaluating the situation, making a snap choice, and feeling GREAT! Even a friend commented on how happy I seemed that day. I focused on the problem as an opportunity.

Then, it appears, I made the error that the Blue team made in the simulation: I took some time to stop and think things over-I started weighing pros and cons. Basically, I back-tracked and my momentum started to fade. AS the author says "in the act of tearing something apart, you lose its meaning."

I get, in section five, when the author says that extra information is not actually an advantage. I am quite sure that I am going to end up with the same choice that I made when I decided to make a snap, intuitive decision. The only difference is that I am going round-and-round and losing the great feeling I had when I chose to accept that the firm was breaking up and be thankful for the opportunity to reassess.

I'm trying to frame a question, but it isn't coming easily, so I'd like to ask this:
So far, have you tried to use anything from this book in your own decision making? If so, can you let us know how it went?

[GoofEme]

I'm on chapter 5.
I make that statement loosely because some of this is difficult to process. I also think I am not a good candidate for BLINK decision making because I rehash everything until I burn it up. My DH would laugh and say, "Oh, you are perfect at it because you always end up with the decision you made in the first place." I decide then drive him crazy thinking about it before I end up where I started. I really like the points they make about the Pepsi/Coke sip tests in this chapter.
I made a snap decision concerning an issue with DS this past week and will have to wait until he returns home from Summer Honors Camp to see how that turned out.

[emtpej]

I am not sure if this is skipping ahead, but I think what can mess up your decision making is not being able read someone's face which leads you to their intentions (mind). That is one of the things that makes working on simulators more difficult for me. But that is part of the intriguing thing about people watching...
Not having enough light to see what was going on caused the police to kill an unarmed man... just like not having enough experience with a patient's culture can cause you to miss important clues to the cause of their problem. You are a kind of detective but have to be ready to see the signs and symptoms. They also need to give you honest feedback in your interaction. I do agree that patients with whom you can communicate with and treat with respect are less likely to complain. That's probably why I have had so few complaints in my career. I think they have only been from family members or others who have gotten in the way of taking care of the patient.

[Sandra Bostwick]

Originally Posted by GoofEme

I'm on chapter 5.

I make that statement loosely because some of this is difficult to process.


I also think I am not a good candidate for BLINK decision making because I rehash everything until I burn it up. My DH would laugh and say, "Oh, you are perfect at it because you always end up with the decision you made in the first place." I decide then drive him crazy thinking about it before I end up where I started.

I really like the points they make about the Pepsi/Coke sip tests in this chapter.
I made a snap decision concerning an issue with DS this past week and will have to wait until he returns home from Summer Honors Camp to see how that turned out.

I'm on chapter five also.

I find that this type of book takes TIME to process. If I read a book like this too quickly, I end up cheating myself because I don't integrate the info properly. I was worrying that people might think I was moving too slowly, but it seems that, for some, I may be moving just right.

I'm curious where I will go with my big decision for which associate I will pick to continue my project. I had an initial BLINK conclusion, which made me feel very good. I'm almost tempted to try to completely bypass the circular pro-and-con nonsense and stick with the BLINK because, like you, I think I'm going to end up with the decision I made in the first place no matter what. This is clearly not an amicable split between partners, and I am not going to be able to collaborate with both no matter what.

Is there some rule that any major decision MUST have a certain amount of obsessive discomfort, even if your initial flash told you what to do? How long do we have to wander in the thicket of indecision before we allow ourselves to settle into our happy place?

OK, I have to read on for the coke/pepsi thing.

Jamie, can you tell us what you liked about the Coke/Pepsi test and maybe come up with a question for us to ponder?

[Sandra Bostwick]

Originally Posted by emtpej

I am not sure if this is skipping ahead, but I think what can mess up your decision making is not being able read someone's face which leads you to their intentions (mind). That is one of the things that makes working on simulators more difficult for me. But that is part of the intriguing thing about people watching...

Not having enough light to see what was going on caused the police to kill an unarmed man... just like not having enough experience with a patient's culture can cause you to miss important clues to the cause of their problem. You are a kind of detective but have to be ready to see the signs and symptoms. They also need to give you honest feedback in your interaction. I do agree that patients with whom you can communicate with and treat with respect are less likely to complain. That's probably why I have had so few complaints in my career. I think they have only been from family members or others who have gotten in the way of taking care of the patient.

SO TRUE, Erik. I think that is partly why online communication can be so tricky. You can't read faces, tones, or body language.

I was speaking with a colleage about how I'm trying to learn to read between the lines with people online because so much communication will go on there. She kind of huffed that she would never deal with patients online because she can't see them, so doing any type of group online is never going to happen. (She is in the psych, field.)

My thought was that she had her head in the sand, because a HUGE amount of interaction, including clinical interaction, is bound to be online quite soon. I'd rather be a pioneer than the townsperson trying to keep the big road from coming into the villiage!

I can also understand why you get so few complaints. Your way comes across in your posts, and it is just what I'd hope from someone I'd be trusting to keep me alive in a crisis.

[GoofEme]

They were talking about in the Pepsi/Coke, sip trials, blind taste tests how Coke developed New Coke to counteract the findings of the sip test which is a snap judgement of which product is better. But they found that when the same people drank a whole glass that their choice was Coke not Pepsi because too much of what was in the first sip, sweetness, etc... was too much in a whole glass and therefore their snap judgement changed with more information. They also discussed how we don't eat or drink anything blind therefore visual aspects of a product make us choose products just according to how they are packaged.

Have we ever chosen products because of the way the product was marketed to us "the packaging" later to find out the generic was the same or in some cases better? Were we compelled to continue to buy what we thought "looked" better because of the packaging vs quality of product?

[Sandra Bostwick]

Originally Posted by GoofEme

They were talking about in the Pepsi/Coke, sip trials, blind taste tests how Coke developed New Coke to counteract the findings of the sip test which is a snap judgement of which product is better. But they found that when the same people drank a whole glass that their choice was Coke not Pepsi because too much of what was in the first sip, sweetness, etc... was too much in a whole glass and therefore their snap judgement changed with more information. They also discussed how we don't eat or drink anything blind therefore visual aspects of a product make us choose products just according to how they are packaged.

Have we ever chosen products because of the way the product was marketed to us "the packaging" later to find out the generic was the same or in some cases better? Were we compelled to continue to buy what we thought "looked" better because of the packaging vs quality of product?

Great question! I just blew it up so people could see it more easily.

[GoofEme]

I have to admit that I like to buy generic "store brand" but when I am making a dish for the extended family for holidays or taking a dish to a church function, or a funeral, or something, I will buy the pretty "original" brand. I still can't overcome the fact that "I" believe it is the same but someone else might taste the difference. This is on a really simplistic level of what the book is talking about but it is the practical application I can place on some of what Mr. Gladson is talking about.

[emtpej]

I think we all have a tendency to fall for the marketing / packaging and then are disappointed with the product. But they don't care, as long as you try it once.

What i hate the most are the photos on the box that are 'serving suggestion' s that look nothing like the actual product.

[Sandra Bostwick]

Originally Posted by emtpej

I think we all have a tendency to fall for the marketing / packaging and then are disappointed with the product. But they don't care, as long as you try it once.

What i hate the most are the photos on the box that are 'serving suggestion' s that look nothing like the actual product.

So true, Erik! I am a little one person agency competing with BIG agencies and hospitals. The big agencies have marketing people who deal with the districts and they can send these expensive brochures that are really impressive.

Not that that's a problem, but I've gotten a few calls because a new grad or a supervised student who didn't really have the all-important political/legal skills was put on the case. Then, something blew up.

Sometimes fancy brochures are like "serving suggestions" for services also.

[Christine43]

I'm on Ch 5. On the subject of snap decisions......I find that if I dwell too long on a decision I have the tendency to make the wrong one and my first knee jerk decision is often the best one but there are situations that need more conscientious thought. But, not to the point of it becoming a huge stressor.

[Sandra Bostwick]

Christine, I think you made a good point about the stressor. When the decision making process adds to the stress, it is a problem. It is just unfortunate that it is hard to know, sometimes, just what is obsessing needlessly and what is just sensible due diligence.

There is such a paradox in how extra info is harmful, when it is so unclear just how much is EXTRA!

Again, I really liked the doctor and son scenario. I am one who can sometimes get stuck with a certain mindset as to how to solve a problem, and it can take me a while to realize that I need to. Einstein said the measure of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the same results. I couldn't solve the doctor problem because of a wrong assumption! I've been having some fun with that concept, trying to "free my mind" as Morpheus said in the Matrix. It's actually been fun! For example, I drove home a completely different way today, and discovered this tiny section of town with cute little restaurants. That was the first time I went off the well traveled path, and it was a good trip!

[emtpej]

Originally Posted by Sandra Bostwick

I've been having some fun with that concept, trying to "free my mind" as Morpheus said in the Matrix. It's actually been fun! For example, I drove home a completely different way today, and discovered this tiny section of town with cute little restaurants. That was the first time I went off the well traveled path, and it was a good trip!

I like to try different paths if I have time and they are safe.

Also, I would like to say that we practice and practice until we we can do our tasks in our sleep, which is what we have to do sometimes! And paramedics are often very good at teaching and testing certain skills for even physicians and other hospital staff.

[GoofEme]

I think of this book when I'm reading the romance novel from the other thread. It seems romance novels are built on a snap decision, the two main characters meet and fall in love (at first sight), but it takes the entire book for them to get together. Of course it would make a very short novel if they went with their first thoughts.

[Sandra Bostwick]

Originally Posted by emtpej

I like to try different paths if I have time and they are safe.

Also, I would like to say that we practice and practice until we we can do our tasks in our sleep, which is what we have to do sometimes! And paramedics are often very good at teaching and testing certain skills for even physicians and other hospital staff.

Good Point! I think that is why I am always taking continuing ed courses on such a wide variety of topics. You just never know when you'll need to pull an onscure thought out of your head.