The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell

The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell
Ojo Critico / Personal Rating: 4/5

I don't think I can add much to all that has been said about this book. So I'll keep my comments brief and only focus on the things that really interested me.

According to this book, the key elements on how to explain seemly complex phenomena that challenges traditional believes can be found in the following 3 rules:

The law of the few
The stickiness factor
The power of context

To understand these laws is to make sense of sudden fashions in taste, political views, and social change.

The Law of the Few

The law of the few states that there are special people (connectors, mavens, and salespersons) that are key in spreading ideas and news.

Connectors (such like Paul Revere): it is not only the number of people they know, but the kind of people they know. They know what people like and know how to get them together.

Mavens are knowlegable about some (or all) matters. They are not passive but put their insights to work. Sell them an idea they agree with and they will spread it with authority. However, they tend to be emphatic, not necessarily persuasive.

This bring us to the Salespeople. They have the ability to empathize and seduce.

If you have a collection of these characters working for you, you can popularize your ideas and/or products.

The Stickiness Factor

This rule is about how people get hooked to the power of your message. If the Rule of the Few is how your message is passed along, the Stickiness Factor is about how it gets accepted. Actually, I remember seeing a very sexy poster that totally got my attention. The sexuality level was very high (and crude) but after few minutes I couldn't remember the company or the product/service they were selling. All I remember was the picture. They broke the Stickiness Rule due to their inability to link the image to their message.

This rule requieres that the message is memorable and that it moves us into action.

The Power of Context

Finally, the power of context talks about the changes in the environment, such as climate, economics, dominant ideology, and so on. It is about the Zeitgeist.

Overall, these rules are very convincing to explain how ideas get around widely, quickly, and, sometimes, unexpectibly.