The Tipping Point

In this brilliant and original book, Malcolm Gladwell explains and analyses the tipping point, that magic moment when ideas, trends and social behaviors cross a threshold, tip and spread like wildfire. Taking a look behind the surface of many familiar occurrences in our everyday world, Gladwell explains the fascinating social dynamics that cause rapid change.?

The promise of ‘The Tipping Point’ is very positive: change is possible. The book is full of examples of individuals making an impact with limited resources, using intelligence and the right change agents (called connectors, mavens and sales persons). But if change is always possible, it is also volatile.

The Tipping Point is a very well researched book, but does have a tendency to interpret conclusions of social studies as absolute findings. In practice, the correlations observed when studying human behaviour are usually weak, and conclusions need to be formulated with care.

The Tipping Point is also a very American book - all examples and research come from the USA. In itself, it is not a problem, since the USA is a very large social research pool to tap into. But while it’s easy to imagine connectors with the largest Rolodex in Manhattan or Hollywood, it provides no evidence how it might work elsewhere.

Written in 2000 (before the internet became the marketing reality it is today), it also did not take into account the new tools available for online communicators.

Anybody having worked to introduce new technology in industrial markets may observe that a feathertouch approach, pushing the right buttons with a select few people might help, but only so much.

Still The Tipping Point provides useful concepts and tools for the marketing professional to keep in mind. As anything in marketing, they might work in certain cases, and certain geographies, some of the time.