Malcolm Gladwell writes another winner with “The Tipping Point”

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell is a book that serves to explain certain trends, ideas, or phenomenon that takes hold throughout the world, ranging from teenage smoking to the message of Paul Revere's mid-night ride. 

Aligning with Gladwell's other bestsellers, "Blink" and "Outliers: The Story of Success," he continues to investigate how individuals view the world and the effect of social epidemics.  Gladwell focuses on various examples of trends in society and outlines certain congruencies that help certain trends come to fruition while others fall by the wayside.  For example, he discusses "The Law of the Few," "The Stickiness Factor," and "The Power of Context" as key aspects that "tip" trends into the realm mainstream acceptance.

"The Law of the Few" describes three different types of individuals-mavens, connectors, and salesmen-who each contribute to the success of the particular trend by their personalities and innate capability to impact their peers.  "The Stickiness Factor" is the ability of a trend to take hold and "stick" in the minds of the public.  Gladwell uses the example of children's television shows such as Sesame Street and Blue's Clues to demonstrate how each show used different methods to engage and teach children.  The detailed research of each show and the miniscule aspects of each such as the placement of words on a screen or the location of Big Bird in a clip were actually crucial to the way the shows were perceived.  I found instances such as these particularly interesting as I would never have thought such things would actually impact the outcome of the show as dramatically as they did.

"The Power of Context" describes how these trends "tip" due largely in part to the time of their introduction to society.  The best-selling novel, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood tipped at a gradual rate in book clubs across the nation as word-of-mouth and a "sticky" plot resonated with readers.

I found Gladwell's methodical style of introducing his theories through in-depth prose of individual stories, contemporary fads, and historic examples, as an effective approach to furthering his argument. Instead of merely focusing on his own findings, he used real people and familiar historic episodes to depict his theories in action. I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to learn more about how small, seemingly insignificant parts of an idea or event, can truly impact a larger, broader outcome.

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