What the Dog Saw

I’ve been a Malcolm Gladwell fan ever since I read “Tipping Point”.  I saw his new book “What the Dog Saw” at the BCHRMA annual conference and bought it instantly.  Just like the rest of his books, I read it non-stop until I was finished. It is a collection of his personal favorite articles he has written for the New Yorker for the past 10 years.  He really digs deep into so many areas and really doesn’t stop until he gets to the bottom of a story.  Along the way, there are so many colourful characters and amazing tales that are the bonus besides the truth he reveals.  Even more so than ever, he shows us that everything is about perspective. That there is nothing 100% good or evil, and even more difficult to determine what is considered a bulldog.  His stories leaves you in awe, inspired, entertained, intrigued, and curious as to much further that story could go.

I really think Mr. Gladwell should be rewarded with an honorary degree from some fancy university for a P.H.D in Sociology/ Anthropology.  He has studied many sub cultures of our society, not unlike a zoologist studies the animal kingdom.  He accomplishes this by categorizing them, and adding a title and theory to each sect. All of these groups are handled without judgment, but by presenting them in all their glory.  My favorite two stories are “The Pitchman Ron Popeil and the conquest of the American Kitchen” and “The Talent Myth – are smart people overrated?” .  These are two stories that defy normal logic or the expectations of society.  I love those oddball stories, and if you want to know more, you must go read the book.  All I can say it’s spell binding, and makes you appreciative that there are still journalists that are still dedicated enough to write more than 1500 words per article. Furthermore they do the research to give you very concrete scientific statistics and back-story to give context.  I’m so sick of the 500 word opinion pieces that are prevalent in today’s blogging and micro-blogging world. Where they are consistently made of nothing more than intriguing headlines and no substance.

In my opinion Malcolm has a theory that strikes deeply within me. That theory is as humans, we’re always curious about what it is like to live someone’s life and see life through their eyes.   If this intrigues you like it has me, you can visit his website www.gladwell.com and become a faithful blog follower like myself, and read all his previous articles.