Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference first appeared in 2000, but the underlying concept really is nothing new.
Kitty Kallen in 1954 sang a top hit for 9 weeks – “Little things mean alot.”
As far as ideas reaching “critical mass,” is that really a novel concept?
The famous “Law of the Few” or 80/20 principle is also nothing new.Don’t we know that 80% of the work gets done by 20% of the people?
Finally, even Gladwell’s “epidemic” metaphor for the dissemination of ideas is passé. The so-called herd mentality comes to mind.
Gladwell’s Main Contribution
His in-depth research spanning a number of different fields, industries, and scholarly disciplines confirms three key factors that determine whether a particular trend will become wildly popular or in other words reach critical mass (the tipping point).
For that investigation, he is commended. The conclusions are another story.
Gladwell calls these three factors the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context which make up the bulk of of the book.
Presentation of Gladwell’s Contention
Please review the crux of his book here in this presentation.
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