Notes on Gladwell's craft

I learn a lot from Gladwell, and the bigger lesson is his technique (how he argues), not just his conclusions (what he argues). A few techniques I keep noticing and want to borrow for my own writing:

He opens on a single vivid person, never the thesis, so the idea shows up wearing a face before you realize it’s an idea. He holds the counterintuitive turn until late, after you already care about the people in the story. And he treats research as the spine and narrative as the muscle: the data earns your trust; the story makes it move.

The lesson I take as an engineer: a well-told example out-teaches a correct abstraction almost every time. Still gathering examples. This one’s budding.