The Tipping Point
The Tipping Point is the “biography of an idea,” that a good way to think of “any number of [any] mysterious changes that mark everyday life is to think of them as epidemics. Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do.” (7) There are three basic characteristics of change — “one, contagiousness; two, the fact that little causes can have big effects; and three, that change happens not gradually but at one dramatic moment…” (9) “The name given to that one dramatic moment in an epidemic when everything can change all at once is the Tipping Point.” (9)
CHAPTER ONE takes us through THE THREE RULES OF EPIDEMICS. Using the examples of syphilis in Baltimore, the craze of Hush Puppies shoes, the contagiousness of yawning, a few advertising slogans, and bystander experiments, Gladwell sums his course. “These three agents of change I call the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context.” (19) “When it comes to epidemics, [the disproportionality of the 80/20 Principle] becomes even more extreme: a tiny percentage of people do the majority of the work.” (19) “The Stickiness Factor says that there are specific ways of making a contagious message 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.” (25) “The key to getting people to change their behavior….sometimes lies with the smallest details of their immediate situation. The Power of Context says that human beings are a lot more sensitive to their environment than they may seem.” (29)
CHAPTER TWO, THE LAW OF THE FEW, introduces us to the Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen of Gladwell’s first point. Here he tells the story of Paul Revere, and the lesser known William Dawes who set out on a similar mission but with little to no results like Revere’s ride. Why? “The answer is that the success of any kind of social epidemic is heavily dependent on the involvement of
CHAPTER ONE takes us through THE THREE RULES OF EPIDEMICS. Using the examples of syphilis in Baltimore, the craze of Hush Puppies shoes, the contagiousness of yawning, a few advertising slogans, and bystander experiments, Gladwell sums his course. “These three agents of change I call the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context.” (19) “When it comes to epidemics, [the disproportionality of the 80/20 Principle] becomes even more extreme: a tiny percentage of people do the majority of the work.” (19) “The Stickiness Factor says that there are specific ways of making a contagious message 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.” (25) “The key to getting people to change their behavior….sometimes lies with the smallest details of their immediate situation. The Power of Context says that human beings are a lot more sensitive to their environment than they may seem.” (29)
CHAPTER TWO, THE LAW OF THE FEW, introduces us to the Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen of Gladwell’s first point. Here he tells the story of Paul Revere, and the lesser known William Dawes who set out on a similar mission but with little to no results like Revere’s ride. Why? “The answer is that the success of any kind of social epidemic is heavily dependent on the involvement of