The Tipping Point

By Malcolm Gladwell; is all about what & how little things can make a big difference.

The Tipping Point is the biography of an idea, and the idea is very simple. It is that the best way to understand the emergence of fashion trends, the ebb and flow of crime waves or, for that matter, the transformation of unknown books into bestsellers, or the rise of teenage smoking, or the phenomena of word of mouth, or any number of the other mysterious changes that mark everyday life is to think of them as epidemics. Ideas and products are messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do.

All epidemics have the following three characteristics:
1. Contagiousness
2. Little causes can have big effect.
3. Change happens not gradually but at one dramatic moment.

The paradox of epidemic is that in order to create one contagious movement, you often have to create many small movements first.

The three rules of the Tipping Point :

1. The law of the few.
2. The stickiness factor
3. The Power of Context

Offer a way of making sense of epidemics. They provide us with direction for how to go about reaching a Tipping Point.

The law of the few says that there are exceptional people out there who are capable of starting epidemics. All you have to do is find them. Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen. Law of Few looks at the kinds of people who are critical in spreading information.

The lesson of stickiness is the same. There is a simple way to package information that, under the right circumstances, can make it irresistible. (Like Virus) All you have to do is find it. It suggest that in order to be capable of sparking epidemics, ideas have to be memorable and move us to action.

The power of context: The Magic number 150. (Rule of 150: Dividing the team size when the number reaches 150): Epidemics are sensitive to the conditions and circumstances of the times and places in which they occur. The kind of contextual changes that are capable of tipping an epidemic are very different than we might ordinarily suspect.

To conclude; all that is needed is:
1. Focus: Use intelligently; if it does not work change the context of the message, change the messenger and change the message itself. Focus on the effort.
2. Test: The world- much as we want it to – does not accord with our intuition. This is the second lesson of the Tipping Point. Those who are successful at creating social epidemics do not just do what they think is right. They deliberately test their intuitions. To make sense of social epidemics, we much first understand that human communications has its own set of very unusual and counterintuitive rules.
3. Believe: What must underlie successful epidemics, in the end, is a dedrock belief that change is possible, that people can radically transform their behavior and beliefs in the face of the right kind of impetus. This, too, contradicts some of the most ingrained assumptions we hold about ourselves and each other. We like to think of ourselves as autonomous and inner-directed, that who we are and how we act is something permanently set by our genes and our temperament. We are actually powerfully influenced by our surroundings, our immediate context, and the personalities of those around us.

To look closely at complex behaviors like smoking or suicide or crime is to appreciate how suggestible we are in the face of what we see and hear, and how acutely sensitive we are to even the smallest details of everyday life. That’s why social change is so volatile and so often inexplicable, because it is the nature of all of us to be volatile and inexplicable.

But if there is difficulty and volatility in the world of the Tipping Point, there is a large measure of hopefulness as well. Merely by manipulating the size of group, we can dramatically improve its receptivity to new ideas. By tinkering with the presentation of information, we can significantly improve its stickiness. Simply by finding and reaching those few special people who hold so much social power, we can shape the course of social epidemics. In the end, Tipping Points are a reaffirmation of the potential for change and the power of intelligent action. Look at the world around you. It may seem like an immovable, implacable place. It is not. With the slightest push – in the right place – it can be tipped.

Thanks to Paul, the New Year began by reading this book. How far this would be implemented, one need to wait and watch. It is unknown to all except?

Happy 2012! Happiness Always!!