Book Review

THE TIPPING POINT:

How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

by Malcolm Gladwell

This is without a doubt the best book I have read this year. It is a book that will change the way you think about people, fads, fashions, and events.

Published in 2000, this book generated a lot of buzz in the business world. In fact, I had heard it mentioned in my company, a speaker at a conference addressing how we could use the ideas in the book to push our agenda within the company, or the industry as a whole.

When I had a chance to borrow it, I did. It took me a few weeks to finally decide to pick it up. The back synopsis seemed dry and did not attract my interest. Once I began reading it, though, I couldn't put it down.

The concepts that Gladwell puts out there in this book now provide a framework for the way I view social and business interactions. I found myself using the lexicon in the book with a friend and realized when she gave me a blank look that I would have to loan the book to her before we could continue the conversation. I want all my friends to have read this book so we can talk about it.

The main idea of the book is that social epidemics work through certain principles, and the inspiration of this book is to apply those principles to cause ideas, trends, and social behavior to cross "the tipping point" in a positive manner.

The principles outlined in the novel include an examination of the "Three Rules of Epidemics" - the Law of the Few, The Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context. Through several real-life examples, Gladwell shows us just exactly what those rules mean and how they work.

The examples are just as fascinating as the principles themselves. I was particularly intrigued by the Case Study on Chapter Seven, entitiled "Suicide, Smoking, and the Search for the Unsticky Cigarette". It examines why antismoking programs have not been successful in stopping teen smoking, and offers another approach from examining the problem under the filter of the principles. It is a great example of how sometimes people make generalities or assume they understand what the cause of the problem is without really looking at if the data fits it.

In this case, as in the other examples in the book, Gladwell has really done his homework. He is trying to determine how those principles apply to this problem. The Law of the Few shows us, through the data from Hans Eysenck's work, there is a certain core "smoking personality" that includes attributes that most heavy smokers share, and that those attributes are considered rebellious and impressive to teenagers, and makes them more likely to try smoking themselves. However, of those teens who try smoking, only some of them find it appealing enough to continue as a habit.

Through the work of Alexander Glassman, a Columbia University researcher, Gladwell identifies the "stickiness factor" of smoking as it relates to psychiatric disorders, and implies that the secret to how "sticky" smoking is relates to the genetic makeup of an individual; e.i., how the body processes serotonin and dopamine. Preventing smoking through billboards and advertising that explains the harmful effects of smoking, therefore, would not be as effective at reducing the "stickiness" of the habit as treating depression would be, or treating the cycle of addiction.

There is more, lots more, but you'll just have to read the book to check it out for yourself. You'll read about the "broken windows" theory, and how, when applied to graffiti and farebeating on New York subways, this simple idea created safer subways. You'll learn about the techniques the Childrens Television Network used to make Sesame Street "sticky". Most of all, you'll learn techniques on how to effect change yourself, in your part of the world, in a way which benefits society at large.