The Tipping Point:
How Little Things Can
Make a Big Difference
by Malcolm Gladwell
his
genial book by New Yorker contributor Gladwell considers the elements
needed to make a particular idea take hold. The "tipping point"
(not a new phrase) occurs when something that began small (e.g., a few
funky kids in New York's East Village wearing Hush Puppies) turns into
something very large indeed (millions of Hush Puppies are sold). It
depends on three rules: the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, and the
Power of Context. Episodes subjected to this paradigm here include Paul
Revere's ride, the creation of the children's TV program Sesame Street,
and the influence of subway shooter Bernie Goetz. The book has something
of a pieced-together feel (reflecting, perhaps, the author's experience
writing shorter pieces) and is definitely not the stuff of deep
sociological thought. It is, however, an entertaining read that promises
to be well publicized.
his
genial book by New Yorker contributor Gladwell considers the elements
needed to make a particular idea take hold. The "tipping point"
(not a new phrase) occurs when something that began small (e.g., a few
funky kids in New York's East Village wearing Hush Puppies) turns into
something very large indeed (millions of Hush Puppies are sold). It
depends on three rules: the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, and the
Power of Context. Episodes subjected to this paradigm here include Paul
Revere's ride, the creation of the children's TV program Sesame Street,
and the influence of subway shooter Bernie Goetz. The book has something
of a pieced-together feel (reflecting, perhaps, the author's experience
writing shorter pieces) and is definitely not the stuff of deep
sociological thought. It is, however, an entertaining read that promises
to be well publicized.
