In his book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Malcolm Gladwell describes how the adaptive unconscious works and shows its importance in problem solving. Here’s how those lessons can be applied to the business world:

• Too much information can be a dangerous thing. Overanalyzing customer satisfaction research data may make you feel more confident, but it can end up muddling what should be a straightforward decision.
• Don’t prejudge your customers. Initial impressions can be deceiving, so learn to listen before deciding the best way to improve your customer service standards.
• It’s the little things that matter. In the world of brand management, a small change in packaging or presentation can make all the difference in a customer’s impression of your product, even if the product itself stays the same.
• Revolutionary ideas rarely test well. Focus groups are useful for some products, but for the truly new and different, you’ve got to trust your adaptive unconscious.
• You know before you know. In most cases, your gut will tell you that a problem exists or that you’ve figured out the right solution long before you’re able to communicate the reasons why.

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