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

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It's a hit!

Malcolm Gladwell can think outside the box. Even better though, he's extremely good at sharing his thoughts. "The Tipping Point" is as easy to fo... (show more)

Malcolm Gladwell can think outside the box. Even better though, he's extremely good at sharing his thoughts. "The Tipping Point" is as easy to follow as "Blink" and it'll more than likely inspire you to look for the little things you can change in your life and projects in order to improve them. Being an independent filmmaker, the mysterious workings of word-of-mouth buzz are extremely relevant to my work -- just like the concept of "stickiness" and "power of context". "The Tipping Point" might actually increase a venture's chances of making it in a competitive world.

Just as in "Blink", Gladwell fills the book with real-life examples illustrating his points -- from the old Hush Puppies shoes unexpectedly becoming trendy to the New York City crime rate suddenly taking a dive. The icing on the cake is the new afterword, where he shares new stories, this time inspired by the book. I can't think of a more rewarding feeling for an author.

(incidentally, there's an alternate theory to why crime in New York decreased so abruptly in the book "Freakonomics" . . . it's intriguing, but I think Gladwell's take on it is a little more convincing) (show less)

 

 

by Jon Snow

No, it's a flop!

I've heard Gladwell interviewed a few times and heard some interesting commentary from him but this is the first book I've read.
I'm not so impre... (show more)

I've heard Gladwell interviewed a few times and heard some interesting commentary from him but this is the first book I've read.
I'm not so impressed.
Lots of explanations "buzz terms" and anecdotes but little that actually proves the premise. I have the paperback edition that contains an "afterword" section that to me sounds a bit weaselly, as though he got enough feedback to reconsider some of his previous conclusions.
There are some really poor examples too, like the section on teen smoking that does not show either how teens presently get "tipped" into smoking (teens have been smoking for the same reasons for at least the 60 years I know about) or how they might reasonably get "tipped' out.
The explanation of brain size vs group activities is simply wrong. Humans do not have the biggest brains of all mammals and they certainly form much larger groups than elephants with 4x the brain size or sperm whales with 6x the brain. (show less)

 

 

by Michael

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  This book jumped around a bit too much and then I felt it ended abruptly. I enjoyed the book but since I didn't read it entirely in one or two sittings (I read it on my breaks at work) I felt that a lot of it was not really related and that the ending lacked any kind of unified cohesion.

  I still enjoyed the book though, and I especially liked the part about suicide and smoking and how they related to "permission givers". This book was very easy to read, and it was filled with a lo... (show more)

  This book jumped around a bit too much and then I felt it ended abruptly. I enjoyed the book but since I didn't read it entirely in one or two sittings (I read it on my breaks at work) I felt that a lot of it was not really related and that the ending lacked any kind of unified cohesion.

  I still enjoyed the book though, and I especially liked the part about suicide and smoking and how they related to "permission givers". This book was very easy to read, and it was filled with a lot of interesting facts and anecdotes.

  For example I found the part interesting about how the size of brains is traced to social groupings of animals, the larger the social group the larger a specific part of the brain, and how humans can work better in smaller groups of 150 than say 200, without adding more complex rules and hierarchies. (show less)

   

   

  by Matthew Shadinger on Feb 08, 2009 at 11:09AM

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  Seems a bit dated now, even though observational sociology shouldn't date that much. The idea is interesting but the book tries to conflate too many different types of social phenomenon into one - the success of Paul Revere's ride, why a book takes off, why venereal disease spreads, why crime rises and falls, why teenagers smoke - which actually have almost nothing in common except that they spread. The smoking chapter particularly lets him down, as it skirts over nature/nuture, genetics and ... (show more)

  Seems a bit dated now, even though observational sociology shouldn't date that much. The idea is interesting but the book tries to conflate too many different types of social phenomenon into one - the success of Paul Revere's ride, why a book takes off, why venereal disease spreads, why crime rises and falls, why teenagers smoke - which actually have almost nothing in common except that they spread. The smoking chapter particularly lets him down, as it skirts over nature/nuture, genetics and the nature of addiction, which are superficially treated and detract from his central thesis about the way behaviours are "caught".
  I suspect this book will have been very scathingly reviewed in academic journals, if they bothered, but it is still fun to read, and provides some intriguing ideas to play around with, and some handy terms to use in casual conversation. (show less)

   

  by Imogen de la Bere on Jan 31, 2009 at 10:47PM

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