The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

by Malcolm Gladwell

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Society & Culture

Ideas, products and behaviors spread like epidemics, reaching a threshold and then taking off. Gladwell's case is that a small, well-aimed push can tip them if you get the right people, a message that sticks and the right environment, and he tests it on crime waves, teenage smoking and fashion trends.

Core ideas
  • The Law of the Few: Connectors like Paul Revere, Mavens who start word of mouth and persuasive Salesmen carry an epidemic further than everyone else.
  • Stickiness and context: Sesame Street and Blue's Clues make messages memorable, and small environmental changes, like cleaning subway graffiti, shift behavior.
  • Disputed foundations: Did broken-windows policing drive New York's crime decline? Steven Levitt credited more police and demographics, and Duncan Watts questions whether hubs are essential.
Published2000
Pages301
ISBN9780316346627
ReadJan 2025

Connected to 4 other books

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