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A review by kerrinrose
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
4.0
Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point seeks to explain why some ideas, products, messages, or behaviors spread like wild fire. He calls these phenomenons of rapid trend spreading epidemics because they are not unlike viruses in the way they start small and grow to affect a large amount of people at a breakneck pace. These ideas aren’t built up gradually, instead they experience a slow climb followed by a massive surge of popularity, caused by a combination of small details that make up the tipping point.
Gladwell breaks down what factors contribute to a successful idea epidemic into three “rules”:
The Law of The Few, The Stickiness Factor, and The Power of Context.
The Law of The Few states that there are certain types of people who have the innate power to spread ideas. There’s mavens, unique individuals they find what will one day become the center of an epidemic before it even begins, connectors, who know many people and can spread the idea far and wide, and salesmen, who make others want to be a part of that idea too.
The Stickiness Factor states that just because an idea is contagious doesn’t mean it’ll stick. The key to a successful idea is making it memorable; “There are relatively simple changes in the presentation and structuring of information that can make a big difference in how much of an impact it makes.” (Pg. 25)
The Power of Context states that epidemics are sensitive to the the environment, context, and circumstances in which they occur. Gladwell makes an interesting point here that much of what we believe to be caused by innate characteristics of an individual are actually much more so affected by extrinsic factors. For example, most people would believe a boy who commits a violent act must be mentally unstable, come from a broken home, be neglected, etcetera, but more often than not it is environmental cues that end of “tipping” people over the edge.
I enjoyed The Tipping Point. It’s a quick read, filled with lots of interesting anecdotes to back up and help explain Gladwell’s points. Gladwell has a casual writing style meant for an audience ranging from casual knowledge seekers to seasoned sociologists. He is sure to reiterate concepts over and over again throughout the book to make sure you’re keeping up. I found some of the examples supporting his argument to sometimes get a bit off topic. For example in The Stickiness Factor chapter he delves on for far too long on the attention and comprehensive skills of young children when it comes to watching television and why they don’t understand an episode of Sesame Street in which Big Bird has an existential crisis about his name.
This book did cause me to look at the emergence of trends differently. Before this book I never really understood the complexity and strenuous detail a company goes through to market a product correctly or ensure a TV show will be a success. Those who don’t go through the process of tweaking elements of their situation until it is epidemic worthy will most likely fall flat.
More interestingly, I wonder if it’s possible for an individual to really use Gladwell’s three rules of epidemics like a baking recipe and cook up a perfectly manufactured revolution. To me it seems that even when observing the success factors in a epidemic there has to be something organic and just plain luck that occurs to make success really happen. This not a “how to make your idea/product/message wildly popular” guide; it’s more of a social commentary on some of the factors that have caused past epidemics to occur, why they worked, and why they could happen in the future.
A key point in The Tipping Point is stated in the conclusion, “What must underlie successful epidemics, in the end, is a bedrock belief that change is possible, that people can radically transform their behavior or beliefs in the face of the right kind of impetus” (Pg 258). The Tipping Point shows that people can be molded and persuaded by small details to collectively make a big impact. I recommend you give this one a quick read through and see if it changes your perspective.
Gladwell breaks down what factors contribute to a successful idea epidemic into three “rules”:
The Law of The Few, The Stickiness Factor, and The Power of Context.
The Law of The Few states that there are certain types of people who have the innate power to spread ideas. There’s mavens, unique individuals they find what will one day become the center of an epidemic before it even begins, connectors, who know many people and can spread the idea far and wide, and salesmen, who make others want to be a part of that idea too.
The Stickiness Factor states that just because an idea is contagious doesn’t mean it’ll stick. The key to a successful idea is making it memorable; “There are relatively simple changes in the presentation and structuring of information that can make a big difference in how much of an impact it makes.” (Pg. 25)
The Power of Context states that epidemics are sensitive to the the environment, context, and circumstances in which they occur. Gladwell makes an interesting point here that much of what we believe to be caused by innate characteristics of an individual are actually much more so affected by extrinsic factors. For example, most people would believe a boy who commits a violent act must be mentally unstable, come from a broken home, be neglected, etcetera, but more often than not it is environmental cues that end of “tipping” people over the edge.
I enjoyed The Tipping Point. It’s a quick read, filled with lots of interesting anecdotes to back up and help explain Gladwell’s points. Gladwell has a casual writing style meant for an audience ranging from casual knowledge seekers to seasoned sociologists. He is sure to reiterate concepts over and over again throughout the book to make sure you’re keeping up. I found some of the examples supporting his argument to sometimes get a bit off topic. For example in The Stickiness Factor chapter he delves on for far too long on the attention and comprehensive skills of young children when it comes to watching television and why they don’t understand an episode of Sesame Street in which Big Bird has an existential crisis about his name.
This book did cause me to look at the emergence of trends differently. Before this book I never really understood the complexity and strenuous detail a company goes through to market a product correctly or ensure a TV show will be a success. Those who don’t go through the process of tweaking elements of their situation until it is epidemic worthy will most likely fall flat.
More interestingly, I wonder if it’s possible for an individual to really use Gladwell’s three rules of epidemics like a baking recipe and cook up a perfectly manufactured revolution. To me it seems that even when observing the success factors in a epidemic there has to be something organic and just plain luck that occurs to make success really happen. This not a “how to make your idea/product/message wildly popular” guide; it’s more of a social commentary on some of the factors that have caused past epidemics to occur, why they worked, and why they could happen in the future.
A key point in The Tipping Point is stated in the conclusion, “What must underlie successful epidemics, in the end, is a bedrock belief that change is possible, that people can radically transform their behavior or beliefs in the face of the right kind of impetus” (Pg 258). The Tipping Point shows that people can be molded and persuaded by small details to collectively make a big impact. I recommend you give this one a quick read through and see if it changes your perspective.