"The key to good decision making is not knowledge. It is understanding. We are swimming in the former. We are desperately lacking in the latter" (Malcolm Gladwell)
Hi Everyone,
I would like to dedicate this article to Professor Shanbagh (MBA communications professor during MBA) and Mr. Amit Madan (head of production team of current IPL). So here is the 2nd article in the series of 26 articles.
I am giving you a scenario. Think of a problem that you have been working around for months and still not able to get solution to it. Then all of a sudden one day you wake up from sleep and feel that in your dreams you have found a solution. Has this ever happened to you? Happens to me all the time. Why?
Our brain is a wonderful thing. It knows the answers even before we completely understand the problem. There are two parts to the brain one is the conscious and the other is subconscious - to put it in a crude way. Now we all focus on our sub conscious so much that we forget that there is another much bigger part of the brain that is million times faster than our conscious brain and has solutions ready at hand. The problem is very few people can trust their subconscious and tap into it.
We have a habit of over analyzing things to the point that we miss the simplest and easiest of solutions. When I was in MBA we had a task of book presentation. In that every group was supposed to read a book and present on it. Our group was given a book titled, "Blink". When we understood the theme of the book we decided to we will not over analyze the presentation. We used to do a brainstorming session where everyone put forth two ideas that appealed to him from the book. And we compiled a presentation on those ideas. The flow came automatically. This was the first time I actually realized the power of subconscious. And to win the best presentation in that activity was just icing on the cake.
So what is this blink all about? Its trusting your gut instinct and not letting is paralyzed with over analysis. Most of the times the first idea that came into our mind was the best one but then we start analyzing it consciously and we end making a poorer choice. Blink is about letting your subconscious guide you. The only think you need to do is to accept what your subconscious is telling you.
Some examples where we over analyze. We write mails to clients every day. Most of the time we write a mail, then we read it, and then we make some changes. Then we re-read it again make some changes. This process happens a few times and in the end the result is most of the times not better than the original mail. The first thoughts that come to mind are most of the times the best ones. We need to learn to recognize the best ones from the bad ones. This process takes some time but in the end the results are wonderful and very fruitful.
It took me many months to trust my subconscious and let it guide me. But now I trust it completely. I love making decisions in the blink of an eye. I have good and bad experiences alike. But don’t confuse your desires with your subconscious because then it will be a bad decision. The perfection comes slowly but it shows in the agility of your decision making.
So what an individual will gain from it. First the processing speed of mind increases. Think of it as an upgrade from dual core to octa core processor. Secondly a lot of time is saved on over analysis.
Remember analysis is good but over analysis is bad. Trust your instincts and live more happily. Unlock your subconscious mind and the power hidden in it. I will close this article with the same quote that I did my presentation with
"Dont think just 'blink' "
Thanks,
Genie Signing off
email: arunesh.dwivedi@gmail.com
P.S. - I will recommend everyone to read the book "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
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