The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

Malcolm Gladwell

Nov 2006 · Sold by Little, Brown

About this ebook

From the bestselling author of The Bomber Mafia: discover Malcolm Gladwell's breakthrough debut and explore the science behind viral trends in business, marketing, and human behavior. The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Malcolm Gladwell explores and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, is already changing the way people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas.

“A wonderful page-turner about a fascinating idea that should affect the way every thinking person looks at the world.” —Michael Lewis

Ratings and reviews

“How does a thirty-dollar pair of shoes go from a handful of downtown Manhattan hipsters and designers to every mall in America in the space of two years?” (Pg. 7) Author Malcom Gladwell poses and subsequently answers this question in his 2000 NY Times Best-Seller The Tipping Point. This book was a quick and enjoyable read as Gladwell was able to explain his points in a clear, concise manner so that anyone from the most business savvy executive to a High School student could enjoy it. I appreciated the way that Gladwell approached the format of his book. He presented his philosophies and theories in fool-proof fashion; he offered his definitions in a simple, layman’s approach and then provided an extensive amount of examples to make sure that the reader had a sound understanding of what was presented. So, how does a flash in the pan turn into a grease fire? Gladwell claims that there are many ingredients at play that allows a phenomenon to transform into an influential trend. He first delves into what he calls “The Law of the Few”, where he defines three very influential groups: Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen. Connectors are individuals who know many people and are able to use their networks to spread the word of the phenomenon they discovered. He gives an example of Paul Revere’s midnight ride; Paul Revere was able to leverage his perception (well-known, well-liked, and an influential figure in Boston) in order to get a very important message across to prepare for war. Next, Maven’s are similar to innovators or early adopters, in that they are willing to try new things and help other consumers to adopt. Salesmen are charismatic people who possess powerful skills in negotiation; these are individuals posses a “kind of indefinable trait, something powerful and contagious and irresistible that goes beyond what comes out of [their] mouth” (pg. 73) These three significant and influential groups help to spread an idea to the masses. This philosophy tells me that for a product or service to become trendy takes a perfect storm of sorts. Not only do you have to have a good product, but you must also have several groups aiding in its ascension to global prominence. The next few chapters of the book introduce a few key concepts, first is the stickiness factor, or, the degree to which a message is memorable. I agree with Gladwells assertion that stickiness is achieved not through quantity, but by quality. Stickiness cannot be beaten into your head, there has to be a successful strategy behind it; a great example of this is Lester Wunderman’s “gold box” campaign where he added a gold box to his television ad campaign which told consumers to look for a gold box on their coupons to win a prize. If there’s nothing in it for the consumer, then there is no reason for them to follow your product. The next key concept is the rule of 150. This says that “there is a theoretical cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships” (pg. 183) Gladwell provides many examples to why this is true, but I believe that it isn’t always the case; there are many groups larger than that who remain cohesive. One example I can think of is Drum Corps (DCI), where groups of 300+ perform together for 4 months to achieve perfection. The rest of the text provides a series of case-study’s to further drive home Gladwell’s theories. I am glad that I finally got a chance to read this book, especially since I pretended to read it for a class during undergrad. Gladwell presents his theories and philosophies in extensive fashion by providing dozens of case studies. Although each term is clearly defined, I would have liked to see a glossary or appendix with a list of definitions; this is not a text book however, so I cannot fault him for not doing so. I would recommend this book to a friend and to future MBA students.

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell is a fascinating read about the concept of rather novel ideas and its infectious effect on human behavior. The author claims that epidemics can occur by relatively minor actions by certain types of people that snowball into popular ideas. The author describes three laws that govern such spreading epidemics. The first law is the Law of the Few.”The author claims that people with particular personality traits enable the spread of ideas. They have special characteristics that enable them to be trusted, admired, respected, and listened to. Gladwell divides their personalities into three distinct groups: the connectors, the mavens, and the salesmen. The second law is the Stickiness Factor which is the concept of repetition to encourage the spread of information and concepts. The final law is the Power of Context. For example, if a neighborhood has a broken glass and everyone is aware of it but no one fixes it, then people may conclude that no one care about the neighborhood which could spur crime and have a negative connotation associated with area. The book discusses various concepts (i.e. Hush Puppy Shoes, Sesame Street, teenage smoking, crime) to analyze patterns in epidemics that spread. The concept of a Tipping Point is where an idea reaches a climactic point where it turns from an “underground” trend to a mainstream epidemic. For example, Hush Puppy Shoes were a relatively unpopular styled shoe company. But, after several people started wearing them and spread the word by using their “connections”, local shops started to stock their shelves with the “new” shoes because they suddenly became popular and fashionable. The author does a great job of examining and explaining these ideas that normally one would completely overlook or never consider how it came to be and breaks its popular mechanics down to its original formation. I was fascinated by the idea of how Sesame Street was started. I never considered that doctors and professors designed an idea to create an educational show for young children. The show’s writers and producers faced tremendous challenges to make the concept into a success. The intense amount of training, planning, and research that needed to be done to fill a time slot to keep a child’s attention and to teach them is an extraordinarily difficult task. However, Sesame Street created a huge epidemic in terms of the impact it had on television, education, children, and parents. The show paved the way for other children’s shows discussed in the book like Blue’s Clue’s. In conclusion, the Tipping point was an enjoyable read. I particularly like the breakdown of rather simple ideas and how they become popular. Sometimes we take “everyday” things for granted, but it must be remembered that they were all once just ideas. At a certain time came the Tipping Point, the epidemic that made it mainstream.

This is a great book that details the important components of social epidemics. I love Mr. Gladwell's "case study" style where each point he tries to make is backed up by a detailed example. The "case study" style really helps the principles stick in my mind. Mr. Gladwell's explanation of social epidemics helped me see the components that go into these epidemics which often seem very random to me. Great read with great takeaways anyone can apply in their own lives!

About the author

Malcolm Gladwell is the author of seven New York Times bestsellers: The Tipping Point,Blink, Outliers,What the Dog Saw,David and Goliath, Talking to Strangers, and The Bomber Mafia. He is also the co-founder of Pushkin Industries, an audio content company that produces the podcasts Revisionist History, which reconsiders things both overlooked and misunderstood, and Broken Record, where he, Rick Rubin, and Bruce Headlam interview musicians across a wide range of genres. Gladwell has been included in the Time 100 Most Influential People list and touted as one of Foreign Policy'sTop Global Thinkers.