the dip | Speed Reading the Best Business Book Reviews

the dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When To Quit (And When To Stick)
By: Seth Godin

Speed Reading Stats (h:mm:ss)

1st Read: Sneeze = 73 pages

2nd Read: Bless you = 73 pages

3rd Read: Sneeze = 73 pages

Did I speed read it? Hells no! The book is 73 pages long. Common on people...that would take me less than a sneeze.

5 "Must Take-Aways" (MTAs)

Winners quit all the time. Winners just quit the RIGHT stuff, not the wrong stuff.

Quitting is not the same as failing. Failing is when you don’t know when to quit, when you refuse to settle, when you compromise.

Strategic quitting is a conscious decision to quit the tactics that are not working for your long-term strategy.

The Dip is the middle ground between beginning and mastery. It is when things go from easy to hard.

In the beginning and in advance, decide the circumstances for quitting. This will change for each situation.

"The Point" (TP)

Many people resort to inspirational quotes when times are difficult. You know…quotes like “Quitters never win and winners never quit.” ~Vince Lombardi. Right? Remember in K-12 school when they told you to do your best in every class. Testing taking tip #1: answer the test questions you know, then come back and fill in the ones you aren’t sure about? You are shaking your head yes. WRONG! What?!?!  This is what this book is all about. Winners quit the right stuff at the right times instead of staying in the rut, pursuing the no-win, non-changing situation.

Strategic quitting is the ability to see when your choices/tactics are going no-where (The Cul-de-sac) or are going to fall apart (The Cliff). By quitting, you can develop a new strategy, a new look, a new approach. The kicker is not quitting when things get hard and no longer any fun (The Dip). To survive The Dip, you need to lean into the challenges, push harder, change the rules…keep whittling at it until you make it through the other side. Before you start, know when you are willing to quit. Write it down NOW! If the scenario presents itself, quit. Change your tactics and start again. Good luck Winner!

Brilliant Articulate Mind Map (BAMM)

https://www.xmind.net/m/AY5f/

Speed Reading the Best Business Book Reviews: Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

By: Malcolm Gladwell

Speed Reading Stats

Speed Reading Stats (h:mm:ss)

1st Read: 0:05:19, 15,685 words/minute

2nd & 3rd Read: 0:04:00, 20,848 words/minute

Mind Map Stats (h:mm:ss)

1:32:12

Total Time: (h:mm:ss)

1:51:30

5 "Must Take-Aways" (MTAs)

1. Adaptive unconscious. The amazing power of the mind that allows people to respond to situations instantly, like swerving to avoid hitting a deer while driving. Most people have this ability. It can get better with training, experiences, and practice.
2. Thin-slicing. The unconscious mind’s ability to find the underlying patterns of situations and behaviors. In essence, the ability to inherently understand when something is “wrong” with something/someone; to read minuscule body language, such as facial reactions, to know how someone is feeling; and to respond under high-pressure, high-stress, rapid-response situations.
3. Snap judgments. These are the decisions make in seconds, such as whether someone is a threat to you or someone is lying. These decisions are made very fast with a minimal amount of information. They rely on your past experiences and situations. Pause a second (literally, just a second) in your snap judgments to try to control for your personal stereo-types and prejudices.
4. More information does NOT mean better decisions. When large amounts of information are provided, people often stop listening to their “gut” (i.e. unconscious mind) to rely on their conscious mind. 
5. Unconscious Thinking CAN be improved. The brain can improve its functioning with training and new experiences. If you are not that good at thin-slicing and snap judgments, you can get better with exposure to new experiences that will correct old stereo-types and prejudices. 

"The Point" (TP)

This is my first Malcolm Gladwell book. Gladwell’s writing is very effortless to read. He engages the reader with stories in the beginning of the chapters and incorporates his theories in the later part of the chapters. There is an underlying theme to the book, which Gladwell builds upon slowly and with grace. Blink is an interesting look into the ability of the mind to process information and make instantaneous decisions. You know those times when you think to yourself “why does that look off”, “Something isn’t right here”, or “that person I just met didn’t seem to like me even though they were nice to me”? We have all been there. Decisions made in the blink of an eye are life altering. Ta da! Get it…“decisions made in the blink of an eye”…name of the book “Blink”. Good, you’re following me.

Our adaptive unconscious mind has the ability to respond, size up, and react to situations within seconds (Gladwell’s term “thin-slicing”). The brain has the ability to detect patterns of behaviors and events based upon past experiences and environments (Gladwell’s term “snap judgments”). The fascinating aspect of thin-slicing and snap judgments is that less information is more. Yeah, you read that correctly. Having more information can override the mind’s ability to respond under high-pressure, high-stress, rapid-response situations. The good news is that you, yes you, can improve your mind’s thin-slicing and snap judgment ability through new experiences and training. How do you ask? Well, I don’t know. Gladwell doesn’t go into detail on how to do that in this book.

"Brilliant Articulate Mind Maps" (BAMM)

https://www.xmind.net/m/a9Xe/

Gladwell, M. (2005). Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (p. 296). New York, NY: Back Bay Books. ISBN: 978-0-316-17232-5.