Malcolm Gladwell's classic, "The Tipping Point" has always been a major inspiration for me. The book is written in a very chatty, conversational style that masks the underlying logic and structure of Gladwell's "argument". In this presentation I have tried to strip it down to its bare bones ... and added a few thoughts of my own.

1. Presentation prepared by Ian Bentley
Inspired by the ideas contained in Malcolm
Gladwell’s Best Seller “The Tipping Point”

2. “…there is something in all
of us that feels that true
answers to problems have
to be comprehensive, that
there is virtue in the dogged
and indiscriminate
application of effort … that
slow and steady should win
the race.
The problem is that the
indiscriminate application
of effort is not always
possible.
There are times when we
need a convenient short
cut, a way to make a lot out
of a little, and that is what
Tipping Points is all about”.

3. “ … the world of the Tipping
Point is a place where the
unexpected becomes
expected.
Where radical change is
more than possibility ...
contrary to all our
expectations – it is a
certainty”.

4. The Tipping Point is defined as “the
moment of critical mass”.
The term came into being in the
1970s to describe the flight to the
suburbs of whites living in the older
cities of the American Northwest.
When the number of incoming
African Americans in a particular
neighbourhood reached a certain
point (say 20%) … sociologists
observed that the community would
“tip” and most of the remaining
whites would leave almost
immediately.

5. “… we are all at heart, gradualists,
our expectation set by the steady
passage of time”
While conventional logic still
considers the golden road to success
as a gradual, incremental process …
Malcolm Gladwell argues that this is
not the case.
Gladwell says that only the bravest of
us “welcome the possibility of sudden
change”.
Sudden change, Malcolm Gladwell
believes … depends on our ability to
trigger “social epidemics”

7. “A Social Epidemic is a phenomenon
that mimics the way an infectious
disease spreads through a
community”.

8. “Epidemics are the function of
people who
otransmit infectious agents;
othe agent itself, and
othe environment in which the
infectious agent is operating.
… and when an epidemic
tips, when it is jolted out of
equilibrium, it is because
something has happened … some
change has occurred”.

9. Malcolm Gladwell identifies the
‘contagion factors ‘that fulfil the
three “Rules of Epidemics” …
o “Law of the Few”,
o “Stickiness Factor”, and
o “Power of Context”.

11. The “Law of the Few” says that if a
few exceptional people find out
about a trend, and through their
social connections, energy,
enthusiasm and personality spread
the word …
The message will grow incrementally
into a social epidemic.

12. With regard to the “Law of the Few”
… Gladwell says one critical factor is
the “Nature of the Messenger”.
It takes special people to spread a
Social Epidemic.
Gladwell calls them the …
 Connectors,
 Mavens, and
 Salesmen

13. Connectors "link us up with the
world”
They are people with a special gift of
“bringing the world together." The
people in a community who know
large numbers of people and who
are in the habit of making
introductions. A Connector is the
social equivalent of a computer
network hub.
Connectors usually know people
across an array of social, cultural,
professional, and economic circles,
and make a habit of introducing
people who work or live in different
circles.

14. Mavens are "specialists we rely on to
connect us with new information."
They accumulate knowledge
(particularly about the marketplace)
and thus become experts in certain
areas. Mavens are intense gatherers
of information and impressions, and
so are often the first to pick up on
new or nascent trends. They are
unselfish with their knowledge and
in fact love to share it with others. A
Maven is regarded as someone who
has a disproportionate influence on
other members of the network.
The role of Mavens in propagating
knowledge and preferences has been
established in various domains, from
politics to social trends.

15. Salesmen are "persuaders" …
charismatic people with powerful
negotiation skills.
They tend to have an indefinable
trait that goes beyond their obvious
eloquence that makes others want to
agree with them. They are able to
easily establish physical and
conversational harmony with others.
Although the salesman is obviously
dictating the terms of the interaction
he is able to generate a high degree
of empathy and synchronicity that
ensures the other person is
interested, enthusiastic and happy.

17. “The Stickiness Factor” implies there
are specific ways of making a
contagious message memorable:
relatively simple changes in the
presentation and structuring of
information can make a huge
difference to its impact.

18. Conventional marketing does not
work. For the average message to
STICK it must be seen 27 times .
However there are ways to package
information that makes it
‘irresistible'.
Guerrilla Marketing techniques can
be employed to rapidly increase the
“Stickiness Factor” … under the right
circumstances

20. “The Power of Context” says that
human beings are a lot more
sensitive to the condition of their
environment than they may seem …

21. Altering the Environment can subtly
power change …
“It is possible to be a better person
on a clean street or in a clean
subway … than in one littered with
trash and graffiti”
“The streets we walk down, the
people we encounter – play a huge
role in shaping who we are and how
we act”

22. The Rule of 150 says the size of
groups is a subtle contextual factor
that makes a BIG difference.
People can be easily knit together
and infected with the community
ethos … below the level of 150 .
Once that line is crossed they begin
to behave very differently.
150 is our “Social Channel capacity”
… determined on the basis of
personal loyalties and 1-on-1
contacts.
At that 150 Tipping Point … the
group dynamics simply become too
complex. For the average person
there are just too many relationships
to manage.
The group becomes divided and
alienated .
The point has come for it to split in
two

23. Tipping Point theory emphasises one
other very important point to
consider about Epidemics …
The “Paradox of the Epidemic” says
that … “in order to create ONE
contagious movement, you may
often have to create MANY small
movements first”.