The Tipping Point

The Tipping Point

I just found out this was Malcolm Gladwell’s debut book. I don’t know why but I wasn’t surprised. I loved the book but the writing wasn’t as crisp. Don’t ask me how to explain that.

The Tipping Point breaks down why social epidemics’s happen. Gladwell uses a ton of examples like he does in his other books. Airwalk, crime rates in NYC, Hush Puppies, Sesame Street to name a few.

There are three rules of epidemics or agents of change.

Law of the Few. The success of any social epidemic is heavily dependent on people with a rare set of social gifts. Connectors who are the people who know everyone. Mavens are  the expert or information specialists. Salesman’s are the persuaders. Another way to look at this is the ’80/20 Principle’. 80% of the impact is accomplished by these individuals.

The Stickiness Factor. This is all about retention. Sesame Street was the pioneer on this. Blues Clues too. They played the same episode four times in a row for a reason.

The Power of Context. This is timing. Conditions and circumstance are most definitely important to cross the Tipping Point.

Cool book. Similar vibes to his others books.