Book Review: The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell

I had trouble with this book – trouble putting it down! Although I had briefly glanced at it a couple of times in bookstores and couldn’t quite figure it out, it quickly consumed my interest when I started to read it.

The big idea in this book is that the way to understand many “mysterious” things in daily life such as fashion trends, teen smoking, and crime waves is to consider them as epidemics.

Epidemics have three primary characteristics:

1) contagiousness

2) rapid change

3) very importantly, small changes can have big effects

The “Tipping Point” is the moment of critical mass when rapid change occurs.

When an Epidemic Tips, it tips because of a change in one of the follow:

The Law of the Few – social epidemics are driven by the efforts of a talented few. Gladwell characterizes them as: Connectors – people specialists who know many people, Mavens – information specialists who love to spread information, and Salesmen – persuasion experts. It turns out I am not one of these few :)

Stickiness Factor – does the message make a significant impact? Small but critical changes to a message can radically affect its stickiness. The quality of the message is not the issue.

Power of Context – humans are incredible sensitive to context. For example, removing graffiti and subway fare cheaters substantially reduced serious crime in New York City subways.

What makes this book work so well is the great examples. Gladwell has obviously spent a lot of time painstakingly researching this book and it shows.

Why did Paul Revere make such a big impact on his famous nighttime ride when William Dawe’s simultaneous ride flopped? Why are Sesame Street and Blues Clues so successful? Why is teen smoking such a problem when smoking isn’t and never has been cool? (hint: smokers are cool). All these questions and many more are within the scope of “The Tipping Point” and are answered in detail.

Now if I can only find a way to use Gladwell’s information to my benefit I’ll end up a rich and happy man. In the meantime I’ll remain amused and informed by this book. I’m picking up his new book tomorrow!