The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

by Malcolm Gladwell

Ideas are infectious, and sometimes evolve into full-blown epidemics. In his first book, New Yorker staff writer Malcolm Gladwell explores the elements of these epidemics, and finds three common characteristics: contagiousness, the fact that little causes can have big effects, and that change happens, not gradually, but at one dramatic moment. The Tipping Point is the name given to that special moment when everything can change, all at once. It is governed by three rules: the law of the few, the stickiness factor, and the power of context. The book is about taking these concepts, and helping the reader learn how to apply them in puzzling situations, whether it’s marketing, teen-age smoking, social, or product epidemics. The book’s greatest power, however, is in its delivery. Gladwell takes complex material, and presents it in a simple and natural way, allowing readers to apply his concepts into their own experiences. What is the tipping point for change in organizations? What is the tipping point for each of us in our individual growth? How can we really become conscience of these principals, these rules, as they relate to what creates very quick, monumental change in our world today?