What The Dog Saw

I was given the book, "What The Dog Saw and Other Adventures" by Malcolm Gladwell in January of this year.  A fellow traveler in the Galapagos Islands finished it and offered it to me because she didn't want to carry it all the way home.  I guess it has taken me almost ten months to finish it.  It's not a bad book.  It's one of those books you can set down and pick up a month later without a problem because it's a series of essays that were published in the New Yorker magazine by the author.  the book comes in three sections. The first deals with little known geniuses, the second with the problems of prediction, and the third with psychological topics.  The topics vary from "why are there 30 kinds of mustard and only one kind of ketchup?" to "are pit bulls really the most dangerous breed of dog?"  One of the more interesting essays was on corporate climate.   Enron, for example, promoted those employees with "talent," an unmeasurable quality.  Employees were promoted because they gave off a perception of talent and were often promoted and rewarded far beyond their abilities.  Other companies, Southwest Airlines, for example, pay modestly and give raises according to seniority. Southwest has become, according to Gladwell, the most successful and efficient airline.  This is not a book I would have chosen to read but I am glad I did.  Gladwell's writing prods me to question my assumptions and to to think about topics I normally don't bother to consider.