Book review: The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Posted by Andrew Bentham at Fri, 05/02/2010 - 11:16am in Corporate commentary

It was the final straw when I was sitting with my friends and they offered incredulous looks in response to my admission that I had yet to read Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point. So I did.

It isn't a new release and many people know Gladwell by reputation as an expert on social sciences, psychology and social psychology. And this book holds some fascinating insights on change, how change occurs and, crucially, why.

His writing style is fluid and for every question he poses, there is a fascinating anecdote or case study to back it up. Whether looking at how Hush Puppies suddenly became the footwear of choice across America, or why violent crime numbers suddenly drop, there is always an answer rooted in individual behaviours.

In the context of communications, looking at the effects of brands and behaviours on society and tracking how fast communications are- and not just on the internet but in the real world - it's a great insight in to the power of communications- and one that shows how important the smallest statements can be.

As Gladwell said in an interview about the book:

"One of the things I'd like to do is to show people how to start "positive" epidemics of their own. The virtue of an epidemic, after all, is that just a little input is enough to get it started, and it can spread very, very quickly. That makes it something of obvious and enormous interest to everyone from educators trying to reach students, to businesses trying to spread the word about their product, or for that matter to anyone who's trying to create a change with limited resources. The book has a number of case studies of people who have successfully started epidemics--an advertising agency, for example, and a breast cancer activist. I think they are really fascinating. I also take a pressing social issue, teenage smoking, and break it down and analyze what an epidemic approach to solving that problem would look like."

In essence, he says that anyone can start an epidemic, on a variety of topics. It tracks the tell-tale signs of change and understand how to maintain message momentum until you reach that tipping point, where change suddenly happens - and a particular product, brand or behaviour become part of the social conscience. By demystifying the process of change, it becomes a tool, rather than a barrier - and a must-read for any communications practitioner looking to influence people - and yes, that's all of us.

To summarise, I liked it. And now my friends can stare blankly at me as I ask them if they've read Microtrends by Mark J. Penn (http://www.microtrending.com/), my next book review.

Meanwhile, The Tipping Point website is well worth a look and is at http://www.gladwell.com/tippingpoint/index.html

Tagged with: Malcolm Gladwell