"The Tipping Point: How Little Things
Can Make a Big Difference"
by
Malcolm Gladwell
Interesting Read. Malcolm
Gladwell, a staff writer for New Yorker Magazine, in The Tipping Point, writes
a fascinating study of human behavior patterns, and shows us where the smallest
things can trigger an epidemic of change. Though loaded with statistics,
the numbers are presented in a way that makes the book read like an exciting
novel. Gladwell also gives several examples in history, where one small change
in behavior created a bigger change on a national level. He also studies
the type of person or group that it takes to make that change.
Gladwell's first example is the resurgence of the popularity of Hush Puppies,
which had long been out of fashion, and were only sold in small shoe stores.
Suddenly, a group of teenage boys in East Village, New York, found the cool
to wear. Word-of-mouth advertising that these trend-setters were wearing
the once-popular suede shoes set off an epidemic of fashion change, and boys
all over America had to have the "cool" shoes.
Galdwell also examines the difference in personality it takes to trigger
the change. For example, we all know of Paul Revere's famous ride, but how
many of us know that William Dawes made a similar ride? The difference was
that people listened to Revere and not to Dawes. Why? Revere knew so many
different people. He knew who led which village, knew which doors to knock
on to rouse the colonists. Dawes didn't know that many people and therefore
could only guess which people to give his message.
There are several other phenomena that Gladwell examines, showing the small
things that spark a change, from the dip in the New York City crime rate
to the correlation between depression, smoking and teen suicide. If you want
to change the world for the better, this book will give you an insight into
the methods that work, and those that will backfire. It's all in knowing
where to find The Tipping Point.~A Reader
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The
Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big
Difference
Book Description
"The best way to understand the dramatic transformation of unknown books
into bestsellers, or the rise of teenage smoking, or the phenomena of word
of mouth or any number of the other mysterious changes that mark everyday
life," writes Malcolm Gladwell, "is to think of them as epidemics. Ideas
and products and messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do." Although
anyone familiar with the theory of memetics will recognize this concept,
Gladwell's The Tipping Point has quite a few interesting twists on the subject.
For example, Paul Revere was able to galvanize the forces of resistance so
effectively in part because he was what Gladwell calls a "Connector": he
knew just about everybody, particularly the revolutionary leaders in each
of the towns that he rode through. But Revere "wasn't just the man with the
biggest Rolodex in colonial Boston," he was also a "Maven" who gathered extensive
information about the British. He knew what was going on and he knew exactly
whom to tell. The phenomenon continues to this day--think of how often you've
received information in an e-mail message that had been forwarded at least
half a dozen times before reaching you.
Gladwell develops these and other concepts (such as the "stickiness" of ideas
or the effect of population size on information dispersal) through simple,
clear explanations and entertainingly illustrative anecdotes, such as comparing
the pedagogical methods of Sesame Street and Blue's Clues, or explaining
why it would be even easier to play Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon with the actor
Rod Steiger. Although some readers may find the transitional passages between
chapters hold their hands a little too tightly, and Gladwell's closing invocation
of the possibilities of social engineering sketchy, even chilling, The Tipping
Point is one of the most effective books on science for a general audience
in ages. It seems inevitable that "tipping point," like "future shock" or
"chaos theory," will soon become one of those ideas that everybody knows--or
at least knows by name.
READER'S COMMENTS ON
The
Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big
Difference
Innovative and interesting. Not just entertaining, but truly informative. The ideas are new and the author makes a good case for his viewpoints. I can recommend this to just about anyone, but especially to persons who run business or other organizations.~D.M.A.
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The
Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big
Difference
As much as one shouldn't use such words
lightly- a classic!! I read the Tipping Point with a huge amount of admiration
and yes, some awe. Admiration for what is truly a modern day classic- a study
of human behaviour that is incisive, insightful and with application in various
fields. Taking the basic phenomenon of why some trends take off and others
don't, Gladwell weaves an engaging story from the streets of New York to
Ganesha idols in India- that gives one some really interesting insights into
what makes some things take off.
I mentioned awe as well, right? Awe because, as a fellow author, I know just
how difficult it is to come up with the one BIG idea- the one that will break
the mold, and carve a real place for yourself and your books. Gladwell does
that spectacularly with The Tipping Point- the things he mentions are all
around us, the genius of his work lies in making the connections we don't
and presenting it to us in such a readable way.~Mainak Dhar, author, Brand
Management 101: 101 Lessons from Real-World Marketing
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The
Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big
Difference
Little Things REALLY can make a Difference! The Tipping Point explores ideas of "epidemics." The author, Malcom Gladwell says, "think of them as epidemics. Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do." The book makes you look at events from a different perspective, it's very interesting. He talks about 3 fascinating kinds of people that he calls: Mavens, Connectors, and Salesmen, as key people in word of mouth epidemics. This and many other key words like "the stickiness factor" will stay in your mind and before you know it you will be quoting his words. The book is a n easy read, but will surely leave you thinking. He writes clear and simply with lots of examples or illustrations of his ideas. I would definitely recommend this book, especially for those interested in marketing, communications, or just theories.~Asli
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The
Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big
Difference
Great conversation
starter. In The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell has written an incredibly
compelling account of how change occurs. And this is not your ordinary
cause-and-effect explanation! Sometimes counterintuitive, but always
well-researched, Gladwell proposes unorthodox explanations for some of the
greatest social phenomena of our time. From Sesame Street to teen smoking,
from Hush Puppies to the dramatic reduction in New York City crime, Gladwell
dives into why and how some trends catch on and others flop.
Gladwell's book avoids the trite answers of a "how-to" manual and instead
takes you on a captivating journey of the imagination. He asks you to consider
the law of the few, the stickiness factor, and the power of context. Using
these three ideas, he then constructs a lucid argument as to how social epidemics
have "tipped."
The greatest advantage to the audio version of The Tipping Point is that
the author reads it. Listening to Gladwell, I felt like I was engaged in
one of the most stimulating conversations of my life. Gladwell reads in a
clear, conversational tone that easily engages the listener. The quality
of the recording was so high that I almost made an extra cup of tea for Gladwell
as I enjoyed our "conversation."
The only downside to this audio version lies in the content of the book itself.
Gladwell contstructs a detailed argument in The Tipping Point, and several
times I wanted to go back a few "pages" and refresh myself on a previous
idea. Obviously this is difficult to accomplish with an eight CD book. There
is no table of contents to link chapters to disks.
The Tipping Point offers the hope that change, no matter how improbable,
is possible. I suggest that you listen to this book with a friend or two.
The conversation with Gladwell will no doubt spur on several more conversations
about how the world in which you live may be changed for the better.
Armchair Interviews says: A message that will make you think about your
world.~armchairinterviews.co
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The
Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big
Difference
Original Thinker, Original Thought, Tip Me Over Malcolm! Granted this book
came out in 2002 and also granted this book isn't really about the phenomenon
epidemic sweeping West Texas, Western Montana, and the good majority of
Idaho...that's right cow tipping. It ain't about cow tipping. What it is
about is a man Gladwell, giving a unique look to a specific moment in time
where ideas gain momentum spreading among people like a virus, like an epidemic.
Now that idea is powerful, much more so than watching a sleeping bovine fall
over in the middle of the night whilst drunk (you not the bovine mind you)
in someone else's pasture under a beautiful starry sky.
Gladwell applies his pseudo-social-science theory of little things making
a big difference to all sorts of phenomenon: teenage suicide epidemics in
Micronesia, public school violence ala Columbine, smoking cessation campaigns,
marketing, marketing, and more marketing. Ah, there's money to be made in
them there ideas, so the book will no doubt sell and has sold very well.
As far as the concepts of "The Tipping Point," gaining momentum like the
epidemics Gladwell mentions well we are just about there. My best friend
from High School (grade school & Junior High come to mention it) first
tipped me to the Tipping Point when he called me a connector. My first reaction
was hey...I'm not going around just "connecting" with anybody mind you, I'm
a married man. Then I get this new web page job and someone from an Ad agency
in a meeting with a straight face says, "Yeah, let's go with that idea, it
has stickiness to it." So I casually right down the word "Stickiness," and
put a note next to it, caveman style, "must find out what this means." So,
not as I originally feared, stickiness doesn't refer to that sinking feeling
when just before a meeting you can't quite get the nose residue off your
finger when folks are entering in the room. Nope, according to Gladwell,
'stickiness,' may just get a new place in Webster's in a few years much like
'truthiness." Stickiness refers to those ideas, concepts, images that linger
long after you have forgotten what the message was attached to them. Stickiness
has some power when you are trying to sell a brand, when you are trying to
change social attitudes and mores, when you are trying to get things done
in life but are running into a wall of entrenched resistance. Stickiness
will save you if you connect with the connectors, mavens, and salespeople
of the world. Now if you go ahead and get Malcolm Gladwell's "The Tipping
Point," you too can join the conversation with this unique theory and its
own unique language.
Gladwell is on to something. I'm sure his other books, "Blink," "The Art
of Friendship," and "The Power of Ideas," will catch on too. In all seriousness,
Gladwell has a way of writing intriguing sentences that illuminate unique
thinking that in turn change you to observe the world differently, ultimately
influencing action. Now there's some power and at least some brain candy
to fill your noggin'. If you haven't been tipped yet, what are you waiting
for? You must read Gladwell's "The Tipping Point," and start a little epidemic
of your own in your house, in your community, in the world. ...mmw
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The
Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big
Difference
Great insight into why some things zoom up and others crash and burn. If
you are already considering buying or reading this book, let me congratulate
you. You have deveoped a curiosity to find out why things are the way they
are. You have reached a state of awareness that is making you question
everything. In other words, you are now on path to personal growth and
achievement that few people are capable of. Welcome to your Tipping Point!
Malcom Gladwell certainly doesn't answer all the questions through his book
but he does give you the big picture. Why did Paul Revere succeed in warning
the Americans of the imminent British onslaught, while others failed. Why
did Hush Puppies become fashion craze overnight?
What helped New York city to emerge as the world's most powerful city in
80's when it was struggling with high crime rate and despair just a few years
back? The answer to all is that they reached their Tipping Point. But aahhh!
You are not satisfied with simple answers anymore. You want to delve deeper!
And this dear friends is exactly what Tipping Point does. It is written for
those who are challenging everything, everyday The author describes the situation
before and after an event has occurred. For example, the rise (and ultimate
triumph) of Americans against the British. He then examines the enviroment
that lead to the change. He finds key people who were the vehicle of that
change (Paul Revere in this case) and categorizes them as Mavens, Connctors
or Salesmen - those who have the knowledge, those who have a network and
those who can sell the Brooklyn Bridge. Together these people bring about
the tipping point of an idea or a product. But the environment is equally
important. Monkey see, monkey do. The reason why NYC was so unorganized and
full of crime was not because everybody turned evil. The reason was just
cultural. I know you have several questions and trust me this book has the
answers. Maybe not all, but quite a few and certainly enough to give you
an understanding of rise and fall of just about anything.~AA
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The
Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big
Difference
Awesome eye opening book! Great for sales and marketing idea. This book was
a real eye opener for me because I didn't realize how something so small
can turn into something so huge with a couple of key factors such as the
Salespeople. I also learned a lot about what makes an idea stick to people
and makes it popular and what doesn't. I learned how important it is to be
persuasive and where it can get you in life. Great book! I recommend it to
anyone who is looking to learn how to make an idea tip and explode!~A.M.
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The
Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big
Difference
This book will be the tipping point for not only your business but your life!!
You will never see the marketing of your business the same again! You can
apply tipping points to the marketing of your business or tipping points
(turning points) in your life. This book forever changed the way I see the
marketing of both of my businesses and my life. It also inspired me to write
my own book and am working on the second due to what I learned from Malcolm
in Tipping Point and Blink. ~R.T.
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The
Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big
Difference
Gladwell changes the WAY WE THINK - A
Phenomenal book - RUSH TO READ IT!!! -Richard Stoyeck "StocksAtBottom.com"
How often can a reader say, "I loved every page of this book"? This is a
wonderful book. It's entertaining, it's informative, and more importantly,
it will broaden your mind. It seems that our minds are hardwired since birth
to think in a linear fashion. This means we look at the present, and extrapolate
the future from the present by continuing in a straight-line fashion from
where we are right now.
We think arithmetically, when we should be thinking exponentially. Gladwell's
"The Tipping Point" does a better job than any book I have ever read, in
getting you to think in a non-linear fashion. He helps you realize that words
like epidemics, and critical mass apply to situations like a massive drop
in crime in New York City, the massive resurgence of a shoe brand like hush
puppies, and how a kid's show like the creation of "Sesame Street" took off
from nowhere.
Every page in this book offers something fascinating, and mind altering to
think about. Gladwell tells us there are three different types of people
involved in the situations he writes about:
1) CONNECTORS
Highly social types who have a compulsive need to bring people together.
These are people who know everyone. As the author points out. These people
don't see the same world we do. You have met these individuals in your daily
activities. Women who are always arranges dates between other people they
know is an example
2) MAVENS
These are people who like to pass knowledge to the rest of us. They are compelled
to do it. They are not persuaders however, according to the book. Think about
the guy who starts a blog, doesn't get paid a dime for it and has 50,000
people reading his every word. He wants his information shared.
3) SALESMEN
These are the people who educate the naïve among us. Politicians are
salesmen by definition. They are attempting to motivate the rest of us to
believe their message whatever it might be.
What happens is that epidemics of whatever kind involve the above three types
of people, connectors, mavens, and salesmen. How it plays out however is
dependent upon three rules. They are A) The Law of the FEW, B) the STICKINESS
Factor, and C) the Power of CONTEXT.
Here are a few of the concepts you will learn about in this wonderful book:
PAUL REVERE'S RIDE
How did Paul Revere galvanize an entire population one night on his ride?
The answer is he started a word-of-mouth epidemic. He was both a CONNECTER,
and a MAVEN.
SESAME STREET
There was one massive insight involved in the making of the children's show,
Sesame Street. "If you hold the attention of Children, you can educated them."
P 100 Children watch when they UNDERSTAND, and they look away when they are
CONFUSED.
BLUES CLUES
This was another kid's television show that was wildly successful. Nobody
could understand why. When you read about the STICKINESS FACTOR, you will
understand why. P123
BERNARD GOETZ - THE SUBWAY VIGILANTE
This is the story of a man who took the law into his own hands one day on
a New York City subway in 1984, when he shot 4 youths attempting to rob him,
all of who had criminal records. Why did he capture the nation's interest
for such a sustained period of time? P 135
THE BROKEN WINDOWS THEORY
This is my personal favorite. New York City experienced a massive unexplained
decrease in violent crime during the 1990's. The Sociologists came up with
all kinds of theories, none of which held water. The author Malcolm Gladwell
decided there is an epidemic theory of crime, a new idea. Crime can be
contagious. Two criminologists James Wilson, and George Kelling decided that
crime resulted from DISORDER. This disorder such as broken windows sent the
wrong signal, the signal that "ANYTHING GOES". Fix broken windows and you
have huge effects on things you never thought about, such as CRIME. P141
The author also covers a NYC GRAFITI EPIDEMIC, and Subway Fare Stealing.
THE GOOD SAMARITAN EXPERIMENT
This story is nothing short of fantastic. P164. Reading about this story
and experiment is worth the reading of the entire book. Don't miss it.
There are many, many more illustrations of "The Tipping Point" that Gladwell
writes about with humor, fascination, and intellectual worth. I loved this
book, and I think readers with an interest in breaking the mold of their
own way of thinking will love it also. If you haven't read it yet, MAKE SURE
YOU DO, and good luck to you.
Richard Stoyeck
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The
Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big
Difference
The Moment of Critical Mass when Rapid
Change occurs. 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!~Ted D.
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The
Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big
Difference
Quick, easily understood book. The Tipping Point does an excellent job dividing
up trends into simple explanations and then giving anecdotes that support
the root of the idea. It is easy to find yourself flying through the pages,
nodding along to ideas that seem so blindingly obvious you can't believe
you missed them.~J.S.
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The
Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big
Difference
Best Business
Book out there. I have read a lot of business books, from becoming a Rainmaker,
to moving cheese, going gung-ho, how to win friends influence people &
so many more. However this book was one of the best books I have ever read.
It really put things into prospective of how to make little things have huge
impact. It doesn't try to change who you are, it helps up identify who you
are and show you who you should know. It is a quick read and I truly enjoyed
this book.~Judi M.
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The
Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big
Difference
Spirit builder. Wow! If you really want to walk away from a book with a new
found desire to really improve your personal or professional situations,
this is the book.~K
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The
Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big
Difference
Incredible Book!!!! This book has changed the way I look at marketing and
the way I see the world. A must read. I am now reading
Blink:
The Power of Thinking Without
Thinking
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The
Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big
Difference
Hey, I know these people! One of the best books I have read in my life! I have read it several times, over and over, and get something wonderful during each reading. The author thoroughly outlines the few types of people that make a huge difference in many life experiences. He used several great examples in our recent history of how just one or a few people "tipped" a product, economy, and even a disease. I am in the sales industry and I run into "the three types" of people that the author refers to. The understanding of how these people tick and what they do has added extreme insight into my work and life. Read it read it read it!~T.N.
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The
Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big
Difference
The Tipping Point. This is one of the
few non-fiction books that I just could not put down. It has changed how
I view fads and movements. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested
in financial markets and business planning. ~R.S.
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The
Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big
Difference
Excellent book that describes how to create a trend. I was fascinated by
the original perspective in this thought provoking book about the evolution
of an idea into a trend. Using easy to understand examples, Malcolm Gladwell
explains the mechanics of the process, and enlightens us about the the various
people involved. I strongly recommend this book.~Optimizer
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The
Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big
Difference
I loved this book. It's a sociological study of human nature which I just
loved. One of my information maven friends sent it to me because she felt
I was a catalyst, or whatever the book refers to as one who connects and
tips things. Perhaps because I'm a publicist, or just an info addict, but
I loved it! Highly recommend it. Also his follow up book Blink. Great mind
feed.~Joy
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The
Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big
Difference
Broken Windows Theory - Very True! I have been reading a number of books
now based loosely around the same topics....social networks and the connections
amongst nodes in any network.
This books while not explicitly discussing social network theory, as say
Mark Buchanan does in his books, still uses the same concepts in explaining
one of the reasons why small ideas or things suddenly and unpredictably become
big. Examples of these are easly found, e.g. The sudden huge demand for a
particular product at Christmas, the sudden rise of the band Artic Monkeys
from nowhere to being the most popular band of the moment.
The examples in the book are also interesting espeicially the sudden decrease
in crime and murders in New York city in the 90's. The chapter on this was
the most interesting chapter in the book.
Worth reading.~Niall
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The
Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big
Difference
Many Great insights and Stories! I am glad to see that this book is still
on the bestseller list. And why not! It is filled with great insights and
stories. I particularly liked the 150 rule, which states that in any organization
once you reach 150 people, you should start a new division independent of
the other ones. This rule allows for each division to work closely like a
family, enhance communication within the division and achieve great results.
Also his story about the Broken Window theory and how it reduced crime in
New York subway system is very encouraging. I think we can all apply this
concept to our own problems at work and at home. Broken Window states that
by resolving small issues we may end up solving bigger problems. Study this
book carefully and apply its lessons.
I recommend this book highly to organizational leaders, which includes parents
since they are the head of the family organization.~Fred
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