MP Review: The Tipping Point

Tuesday, May 15, 2007 at 09:38am by David Askaripour in Reviews

5 out of 5 Petals

What an awesome book. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell is one of those reads that you feel extremely enlightened after completing. It’s a book exploring the phenomena behind word of mouth and how it can turn something small and seemingly unnoticed, into something huge and abundant — turning it into an epidemic once the “tipping point” has been reached.

Gladwell brilliantly explores various case studies and real events that intimately uncover this concept of an idea reaching a certain threshold and suddenly — as if it happened out of nowhere — the idea spreads like an airborne virus, infecting everyone in it’s path.

One of the best case studies in the book was the exploration of New York City crime in the 80’s and early 90’s. During this time period, NYC was a breeding ground for thugs, rapist, murderers, and graffiti artist who vandalized the subways.

For years, crime continued to rise and escalate to new heights. The police didn’t seem to have a grasp on the crime and it infected the entire city with a sense of fear, disgust, and anxiety.

But, all of a sudden, crime started to drastically recede. Something had happened. What was it? It was something as small as cleaning up the streets and subways from the graffiti that canvassed the walls and trains.

This small adjustment created a virus throughout the city. It sent a message that NYC would no longer tolerate crime and permit their property to be ruined. In conjunction with the graffiti cleanup, NYC also increased the arrests of people who jumped over the dividers to get to the trains, effectively stealing $1 in fare. As the arrests for these minor things increased, the major crime drastically decreased and NYC was restored.

This is just one example that Gladwell dove into. Throughout this book, he takes you on a journey explaining the tipping points of Hush Puppies, AIDS, various marketing campaigns, Sesame Street, Blue’s Clues, suicides, and teen smoking.

All of these stories and case studies can be placed in the context of your business. You will learn that the little adjustments that you make with your business can have astronomical impacts. You will understand that small groups of people called Mavens, Salesmen, and Connectors are the heart of your business and without them, your business would cease to grow.

I left this book with a ton of new ideas on how to reach that critical mass, that threshold, that tipping point. If you think you understood human nature well, think again. The Tipping Point will have you thinking on an entirely new level and your business will benefit.

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