The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

jancynbindman
Jul 5, 2022
4 min read

It's fair to say that I can get very attached to an author and wish to consume all they have to share. When I saw an interview with Malcolm Gladwell on Chase Jarvis' YouTube Channel, I was hooked. Well, not at first. If I'm honest, I wasn't sure about this guy who claimed to love Canada so much more than the United States, and yet lived here. But then he went beyond the small banter with Chase, and began talking about his audio book project with legendary songwriter Paul Simon Miracle and Wonder. I was completely spell bound by the way Malcolm Gladwell told the story of his new audio book and upcoming creative projects.

Needless to say, I immediately looked to see if Malcolm Gladwell was on YouTube doing interviews anywhere else, and what do you know? He is! In fact he had a ton of interviews on YouTube, a podcast, and lots of books. Because I'm more of an type A (A for Awesome) personality I like to start things at the beginning. Today we're talking about Malcolm Gladwell's first book, The Tipping Point.

OVERVIEW

"The Tipping Point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire." -Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point

Malcolm Gladwell tackles the question of what makes anything, i.e. an idea, fashion trend, social behavior, or disease spread. He takes the idea of how diseases (like the AIDS epidemic) flourish, and uses that as an overarching thesis for the tipping point question. Gladwell discovers that little changes can make a big impact. The author also discusses the importance of three types of people and the three rules for spreading something quickly and successfully. There are lots of examples from various different industries: children's television, fashion, healthcare, etc. Malcolm Gladwell's thesis on creating a big impact through small changes is well researched, clearly broken down, and inspiring.

INITIAL THOUGHTS

The Tipping Point does not disappoint. Malcolm Gladwell is a master story teller. He pulls on threads throughout his book that lead to further discoveries backing up his concept of what it takes to make something tip beyond equilibrium. By the end of the book I was incredibly inspired to begin making some small changes for myself and my family. However, this is not a book that I would recommend blazing through. Gladwell's examples of the different kinds of people needed to make a huge impact, and the three rules should be digested slowly. I'm not talking about a month per chapter, but I found myself wanting to read one chapter a day and then mentally digest it. I also really enjoyed discussing the chapters with my husband, family, and friends after reading which brought about lots of good discussion.

THINGS I'M STILL THINKING ABOUT

After reading about the three persona types (I love a personality quiz/test), I turned to my husband and told him about the categories. We immediately began a discussion about which persona type we thought we were, and what we thought the other person was. The three categories are: mavens, connectors, and salesmen. The personality types go beyond what job you have. For example, you could be in the retail business but not be a salesmen. These personality types go deeper into the core of who you are and how you communicate with others. I discovered that I lean more toward maven than anything else. A maven is someone who can't help but share information with you. Not only do they have information to share, but they are an expert in the information they are sharing. This is the whole reason why I wanted to start Glossy Philosophy! I wanted to share my knowledge, mistakes, and celebrations with others.

Another part of the book that has really stuck with me occurred at the end of the book. In an afterword Malcolm Gladwell talks about how The Tipping Point has changed so many organizations through the idea of starting an initial spark. After reading this book, big and small companies and organizations held competitions for ideas that could have a huge impact on their day to day operations. Needless to say, this sparked a ton of creativity from employees and volunteers. There was a huge outpouring of scholarships, money, and grants given to follow through with these ideas that ended up making big impacts. How amazing is that?

BOTTOM LINE

Regardless if you are starting a company, are already involved in an organization, or are just curious about the world around you, The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell is an excellent read and reread. It will inspire and astound you with what small changes can do.