I must admit to never having heard of Malcolm Gladwell until I read an article about him recently in a Sunday newspaper. His ideas immediately struck me as original and fascinating. Within 24 hours, (the way these things so often happen), I saw he was coming to give a talk on his latest book “What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures†at the Festival Theatre, and I knew I just had to be there to find out more about him.
Born in 1963, Malcolm Gladwell has been a staff writer for The New Yorker Magazine since 1996, and in 2005 he was named one of Time magazines 100 Most Influential People. “What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures†is a collection of 19 thought provoking essays that are an ideal introduction for new readers of his hypotheses and ideas. He selected the essays himself, choosing from his published work the writings that had most fascinated his readers.
His previous 3 books had each dealt with a specific theme. “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Make a Big Difference “ was published in 2000 and looked at concepts underlying change. He put forward the idea that there are social epidemics, with ideas spreading throughout a community in much the same way as a contagious virus. Small scale events can have massive implications. “Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking†appeared in 2005 and dealt with the weird power of first impressions that can lead to significant long term results. His 3rd book, published in 2008, was “Outliers: The Story of Success†which looked at people who are extraordinarily influential and successful, and tried to evaluate the cluster of events in their development that led to their amazing powers.
Malcolm Gladwell takes psychology and sociology and produces an original and zippy philosophy that is both stimulating and fun. I look forward to hearing more from him at what is described as “an entertaining amalgam of story-telling and intuitive thinking.â€
What the Dog Saw: and Other Adventures is available here from Amazon
