The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
Book Review: Very amusing and highly informative
Summary: 5 Stars
I thought this was great. I have bored everyone I know with stories from the book and examples of things tipping - and now get very excited about the possibility of being involved as a project begins to tip.I used to say that everyone who has a new idea believes themselves, usually falsely, to be on the cusp of a paradigm shift. This book actually seems to give you both tools and motivation to support and tip the shift.
I think the way in which he outlines the nature of the "few" is superb - though the reader should be cautious of seeing too many of such people in their acquaintances - I especially don't think there are that many salesmen.
Book Review: Fascinating book with an optimistic message
Summary: 5 Stars
I found this book very interesting to read. It very practically shows how big changes in societies often happen unexpectedly and suddenly and can be caused by small events. The explanation is: if circumstances are right, ideas, behavior and products can, with the help of the right kinds of people, spread throughout a society like an epidemic. When that happens, a critical point, the tipping point, can be reached at which the behavior and features of the system itself suddenly change. This principle is clearly illustrated by stories about the sudden decrease in crime in New York in the nineties, by the sudden popularity of Hush Puppies and by several other interesting stories. This book contains many interesting ideas and facts, some of them very counter-intuitive. The author manages to make accessible some implications of chaos theory in a very easy and entertaining way for a large public. What I also like about this book is the optimistic tone and message: change is possible and it can happen non-linearly, which means that small events can lead to major changes. Fascinating book.Book Review: More anecdote than science
Summary: 4 Stars
In 1992, reports Gladwell, there were 2,154 citizens of New York murdered by....other citizens of New York - crime had reached a peak and within a few short years after had reduced dramatically. What was the Tipping Point ?The book looks at this, and other, 'epidemics' and turning points to propose a set of generic factors that makes a situation 'tip'.
The anecdotes are great, although some of the explanations to justify the generic factors are a bit laboured - you get the message pretty quickly.
Not an approach that would stand up to much academic rigour, but arms you with some simple steps and enthusiasm to try and create your own epidemic - go on, try it.
Book Review: Fascinating but where's the proof?
Summary: 4 Stars
I really enjoyed this book and devoured it in just a few sittings. It's dealing with a fascinating topic that the writer manages to break down and simplify into just a few simple concepts (the law of the few, the power of context and stickiness). However, whilst is very insightful and references a number of articles and books, it is largely unsubstantiated. Without being too positivist about it, the ideas put forward have a common sense structure about them, but lack scientific rigour -- someone else could write a book on the same topic but come up with completely different but equally unfounded 'laws' for tipping.I also found it bizarre that Dawkins' 'meme theory' wasn't mentioned once, even though I would have thought it particularly relevent to the idea of ideas or behaviours being 'sticky'.
Overall, this repackages old ideas into new, bitesized chunks that make for a fun read.
Book Review: A must-read for anyone in marketing or public policy
Summary: 5 Stars
The Tipping Point is a book about epidemics – social, cultural, fashion trends as well as medical – drawing on studies from worlds of biology, psychology, anthropology, criminology, sociology and other ‘ologies’.It is a fascinating book, easy to read and I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in marketing, particularly in creating ‘buzz’, or public health or public policy generally.
It draws on a range of examples from the success of Sesame Street and Airwalk trainers through to halting the crime epidemic in New York and how smoking among teenagers should best be dealt with.
It goes into great and fascinating depth on the experiment that lead to the concept of six degrees of separation and introduces us to the Rule of 150.
I have quoted from it at such length over the last week or so that I am now banned from talking about it so am writing a review here instead.