At least one of the readers to my blog (either Mom or Dad) should recall how I previously did a review of the book Outliers: The Story of Success
After my experience reading Outliers, I knew heading into Tipping Point to not expect many hard facts or statistics, which was fine. The book is an attempt by the author to explain why things “tip”. That is, why certain ideas can spread rapidly through societies and other ideas do not. Again, everything in the book is Gladwell’s opinion, and you need to keep that in mind. Even knowing that you are being presented with opinions, many of the stories he weaves for you are quite interesting. One of my favorite parts of the book is how he tries to explain why Paul Revere’s midnight ride was so much more successful that William Dawes.
Gladwell offers up three rules that he uses to explain why things may tip. There is the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context. I do wish Gladwell had chosen a different way to explain “the Law of the Few”, because as a mathematician the word “law” means something particular to me. For Gladwell to state something as a “law” could give the impression that what he is stating has been proven, when in fact it has not, and I also don’t think Gladwell is a lawyer. Still, the concepts behind the three rules are quite interesting.
If you want an idea to tip, then you need to get your idea into the hands of people who are well connected, your idea has to stick in people’s minds, and it has to be able to be consumed in the correct context by others. Believe it or not, it really is that simple. Think of pet rocks, cargo pants, or Lady Gaga. Gladwell tries his best to explain why things may tip, but can he really explain Vanilla Ice?
I won’t put this book into my library, but I would still recommend it to others.
