2006-06-16-malcolm-gladwell-why-people-cant-express-what-they-really-mean-and-feel.html

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layout: post
title: Malcolm Gladwell — Why People Can't Express What They Really Mean and Feel
date: 2006-06-16 09:37:54.000000000 -07:00
categories:
- technical-writing
tags:
- Notes
status: publish

published: true
---

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<p><a title="Malcolm Gladwell podcast" href="http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail230.html" target="_blank"><img title="Malcolm Gladwell podcast" src="https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/idbwmedia.com/images/gladwell.jpg" alt="Malcolm Gladwell podcast" hspace="5" vspace="5" align="right" /></a>This is <a title="Gladwell podcast" href="http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail230.html" target="_blank">another mind-bending podcast</a> that will change how you perceive others' responses about your work. Malcolm Gladwell, a well-known essayist for the New Yorker, explains that the aeron chair — similar to our modern computer chair that we all love to sit in all day — was originally despised and deemed ugly. It didn't catch on for 2 years, and then it quickly became the most popular chair. Everyone came to love it.</p>
<p>Through various experiments and studies, Gladwell concludes that people find responses about some topics extremely difficult to articulate. While they may <em>think </em>they dislike something (like the aeron chair), in their hearts they may actually like it. There is a disconnect that causes people to express dislike in their heads while they actually like it in their hearts (and vice versa). Worse, when people are pressed for a reason, they cross their true feelings even more plainly. Here's an excerpt from IT Conversations:</p>
<blockquote><p>Malcolm explores why we can't trust people's opinions -- because we don't have the language to express our feelings. His examples include the story of New Coke and how Coke's market research misled them, and the development of Herman-Miller's Aeron chair, the best-selling chair in the history of office chairs, which succeeded in spite of research that suggested it would fail.</p></blockquote>
<p>This podcast is truly fascinating and worth listening to.</p>
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