The Tipping Point - Malcom Gladwell

Probably my least favorite of the Gladwell books, but also his first and the one that paved the way for the rest.

ISBN: 978-0316346627
format: Paperback
pages: 304
publisher: Back Bay Books
pub. date: 2002-01-07
started reading: 2009-01-28
finished reading: 2009-02-06

This is yet more pop sociology, but as with Galdwell's other books that I read, it is entertaining.

The entertainment stems mostly from the core premise of the book which is that little changes can have big effects; when small numbers of people start behaving differently, that behavior can ripple outward until a critical mass or "tipping point" is reached, changing the world.

When I was in Grade 9 I did an independent project on Chaos Theory. While there is a lot behind Chaos Theory that is quite interesting and unrelated to this, the 'pop' association with Chaos Theory is that if a butterfly flaps its wings in Japan, a tornado hits Kansas.

We've all heard of that, and some part of us loves the idea that a small thing can have huge effects. And why not? As our understanding of the scope and scale of the universe grows, and as there are more and more of us every year, it is a naturally human sort of sentiment to want to believe that something small - like ourselves - can have a huge impact in something large - like the world.

Gladwell's thesis that ideas, products, messages and behaviors "spread just like viruses do" remains a metaphor as he follows the growth of "word-of-mouth epidemics" triggered with the help of three pivotal types. These are Connectors, sociable personalities who bring people together; Mavens, who like to pass along knowledge; and Salesmen, adept at persuading the unenlightened.

This part of Gladwell's book, while a little restrictive for my liking, was the most enjoyable for me. When he breaks off to talk about Seasame Street and Blue's Clues, I will confess that I got largely bored. It is clearly an area that Gladwell had a passion for, but that section of the book felt like an attempt to take what could have been a small anecdote and turn it into a compendium of childhood psychology.

Given that Gladwell's background is really as a columnist, and this is his first book, I think the obvious conclusion one can draw is that he hadn't quite mastered the medium and made the change over from small his roots as writer of articles for the New Yorker, to his new and more prestigious role as the trendy author of popular sociology books.