An Hour With Malcolm Gladwell

Blogging is back on track now - I was consumed by the schedule of Learning 2005 - an example of attending a conference that isn't a complete fit but having enough commonality with many attendees for me to gain great, immediate value.

Malcolm Glladwell is a brilliant guy who can think on his feet and speak to a large group without canned preparation. I really like that. He came to my home town THREE times since Blink first was published, and I missed him each time for different reasons. It was a joy to hear him as keynote at the Learning 2005 conference - and what I liked most was his ability to go with the flow of the moderator, Ellliott Masie, who did an interactive thing with him to tie into the topic of learning.

I listened to every word and wrote quite a few notes. As his ideas relate to learning, Malcolm noted that people act differently when alone than they do in groups - and used the example of police officers - who can be much more brutally forceful when surrounded by their peers - and how some police forces are starting to have more individual cops work a beat. He said studies show that if you fiddle with someone's environment, you can have a great  impact on people.

How does this relate to small business owners?  You have surrounded yourself in an environment - and you can change it. If you change it slightly, you can increase or decrease your creativity, your revenues, your customer base. Send me a note if you'd like to learn how - to learn more specific details on this. I'm glad to share my ideas, because I've been a believer of environmental design for several years. Change your thoughts, your ideas, who you hang around with, and/or your physical environment, and it is amazing as to all the other things that change.

I'll write more about what Malcolm Gladwell talked about in my next post. For now, take a few minutes to self assess a few things:
Do you surround yourself with people who believe in you and in your ideas?
Do you have a physical environment around you that pulls you forward?
Are you reading trade magazines and books that offer you new and interesting ideas?
Are you willing to flex your environmental ideas and try new things?

Think environment.... five things you can do to move yourself forward...

Comments

[Joe]

Thanks for sharing a bit about Gladwell's talk.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I haven't read Blink yet (though The Tipping Point was an inspiring and provocative book, and I expect Blink is, too). And, as I type that, I'll resist the urge to edit it, and wonder "aloud" how much potential embarrassment factors into law abuses of enforcement power that are [presumably] more likely to occur when there are multiple officers involved (not wanting to appear weak in front of others). Bringing it back to some of the ramifications you hint at in your questions, I suspect that in a truly supportive environment, where people believe in each other, and in a shared idea[l], everyone is less likely to feel embarrassed, and [thus?] more willing to take risks.

I look forward to reading more about your impressions and mappings of Gladwell's talk ... when you have a chance to share more. [BTW, will we see Blink on your sidebar of Recommended Reading? :-) ]