The Tipping Point - Book Review

The Tipping Point is a Design Patterns book for creating social epidemics. I feel like I can utilize Gladwell's concepts regarding epidemics to reach, grow, and serve customers better.

Verdict: This is good stuff.

The book describes "how little things can make a big difference." This idea is certainly not new and you could imagine plucking this phrase from a context of quality, customer service, or even oil filters. The 'little things' Gladwell describes are sociological in nature and he distills his thoughts into three change agents.

The Law of the Few
Gladwell postulates that fads, epidemics, and other changes that occur in large groups of people are actually the result of the influence of a few highly-influential people -- the Pareto Principle (aka the "80/20 rule"). He calls this the Law of the Few. The key roles in the Law of the Few :

• Maven - someone who is the go-to person for answers on a broad topic such as shopping, travel, or computers; this person is compelled to stay at the leading edge of knowledge on the topic and shares his knowledge enthusiastically with everyone around him
  
• Connector - someone who interacts meaningfully with hundreds or even thousands of people on a regular basis; Connectors are the reason "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" works
  
• Salesman - someone who is highly effective at persuading other people to take action; the effectiveness is derived from not just the logic of the Salesman's argument, but in the emotional connection made with the person being persuaded

Stickiness Factor
Gladwell also argues that whether an idea bursts into popularity or fades into the darkness is also influenced by the idea's Stickiness Factor -- which is merely the tendency for an idea to stay alive within a community. I especially enjoyed this section as Gladwell described not only how Sesame Street and Blue's Clues were made sticky to the target audience, little kids, but how they measured and improved stickiness before broadcast.

Power of Context
Gladwell's third and final "little thing" is the "Power of Context." The idea is that people are influenced by the environmental factors around them: weather, road closures, location of friends, and usability. Brilliant.

Conclusion
The Good:

• case studies and other examples of the tipping point theory in action
• naming the three key roles that create social epidemics is an effective shorthand

The Bad:

• a bit redundant at times
  
• re-invents Metcalfe's Law, by quoting Kevin Kelly and his "fax effect"
  

None of the ideas presented are particularly brilliant when taken alone. The brilliance is in the ability to synthesize these ideas into a strategy that enables and supports Mavens, Connectors, and Salesmen in doing what they do naturally -- start an epidemic.