book-reviews dashboard: Book Review | The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

Quick review on Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point.

The book develops on top of the theory the author calls “The Tipping Point”, in which simple and modest things can make big difference in whether a message, a behavior, a product, a disease and whatnot becomes an epidemy or fails to deliver any significant result.

The writing

The basic concepts that surround the theory are presented and extensively defended and grounded with examples and case studies, always citing several experiments and studies somehow related to specific details of the concept. This is an interesting approach as it won’t just give a good credibility to the idea, as it will also present other ideas and concepts coined in different times and by different people, but that in the end help to suggest and defend the same things that the book author is writing about.

Still on the book approach to the ideas and concepts presented, the fact that the it will only run on top of the homonymous theory, defending it on its own and without stating whether it’s good or bad, right or wrong, and without attacking any other subversive concept, makes it for a compelling and enjoyable read.

The content

Running on top of 3 pillars: The Lay of the Few, the Stickiness Factor and the Power of Context, The Tipping Point theory suggest that only a few outstanding individuals are able to get in touch with a message and pass it on to several different individuals from distinct groups and cultures with the credibility of a friend, or can assimilate all the details of it and translate in a compelling way for the larger audience, or can be charming enough to draw and influence others to accept it.

It also suggests that details on how a message is presented determine how sticking it can be, what will make it for a remarkable experience and convert people to its interests. And how the context of time and circumstance, and audience and their boundaries can provide the necessary power for the message to last, convince or just spread like wildfire.

I found it specially interesting how short and quick the “Conclusion” chapter is, and how it needn’t be any longer, as you will inevitably map all the concepts presented back to your day-to-day experiences and all the trends you end up taking sides with. At some point things just seem to fit it, and it all makes sense.

The afterword by the author goes on how to take advantage of the Tipping Point concept to create develop your own messages and turn it on a tipping point for your goals. It also presents 3 new topics, showing how the isolation generated by the contemporary life helps different messages to tip among kids and teens, and how immunity can make an epidemic to cease and how important the people who are able to translate messages for larger audiences are, and why messengers should take special care of them to make sure they always have a good translation of their messages.

That’s it

Recommended reading for data junkies by the amount of data related to studies and surveys that are presented. For business folks and marketers also.

I also got Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking from the same Malcolm Gladwell, and will start reading it on February. Looking forward to it!