Talking to Strangers, a new book by Malcolm Gladwell results in another enjoyable and thought provoking read. There are many lessons that I have enjoyed from his works The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, and What the Dog Saw. Now reading David and Goliath that somehow I put down and never picked back up to finish. Over the last year I have been listening to his Revisionist History podcast. Again a very enjoyable experience.
Gladwell announced Talking to Strangers via his Podcast. Intrigued to see where he would next provide excellent writing and storytelling.
This book is no exception and yet there are painful, probably necessary in today’s world, lessons that clearly show how a lack of communication skills across all walks of live set alongside business objectives create sad stories across our country.
As Gladwell states many of his stories reflect the inability to understand the forest and the trees metaphor. Five parts to this book: Puzzles, Default to Truth, Transparency, Lessons, and Coupling.
His insights often show a revisionist approach to interpretations of communication. Talking to Strangers is no different. As Hernan Cortes found Montezuma II results in 20 million Aztecs murdered during Spain’s colonial expansion introduced a pattern of social interaction. Was this genocide all based upon a lack of translation? The chapters seem to push the reader to just that conclusion.