Wednesday, April 16, 2014

what we're reading wednesday: the tipping point



I recently finished reading The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. (I had actually read Blink, which he wrote later, last year. See my review/summary here, about halfway down.) Where Blink was all about how we make snap decisions, The Tipping Point was about how social "epidemics" happen. What makes a brand or a restaurant suddenly popular? What makes crime waves go up and down? Why was Paul Revere so much more successful in spreading his message than William Dawes? It's often something surprisingly small.

In this book, Malcolm Gladwell explores what those things are that can push a message or trend to the "tipping point." He explains that to truly take off, a message must follow three rules: The Law of the Few (a few key people with certain social characteristics will be the ones most important in spreading the message), The Stickiness Factor (how memorable the message itself is), and The Power of Context (our environment has an unexpectedly strong influence on our behavior).

It was altogether engrossing. Highly recommend!

Linking up with Jessica at Housewifespice!

2 comments :

  1. Malcolm Gladwell is about the only non-fiction writer I really enjoy. His examples make tell the facts like stories. I have not read Tipping Point yet though. Thanks!

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    1. He's quickly becoming one of my favorite nonfiction authors.

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