The Tipping Point Book by Malcolm Gladwell - Summary and Review

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

Summary and Review

When the popularity of a thing, idea, or people's opinion is widely accepted and becomes famous, like magic, that critical point is called the tipping point (an abrupt change happens here).

"Make a thing so good and addictive that masses who see it once are compelled to share it with the world" - Malcolm calls it the "stickiness factor." For example, the TV show "Sesame Street" repeatedly shows a film to children, and after finishing the show, children are asked what they remember (stickiness factor). Accordingly, they cut the scenes that are less interesting, resulting in a great product.

For instance, in 1984, 80,000 fax machines were sold in America at a cost of $2,000 per machine, while R&D spent millions of dollars manufacturing them. Slow growth continued for three years until 1987 when the magic happened - enough people had bought the fax machines, and the tipping point was reached, leading to millions of units sold. In this case, the tipping point occurred when enough people combined with the fax network (like the mobile phone and SIM card example).

Another example is Gaëtan Dugas, an American flight attendant who had sex with 2500 people in North America while suffering from AIDS, contributing to the spread of AIDS across the population. Malcolm Gladwell gives a specific term to this type of person - "connector." There are many superconnectors out there; you just need to find them.

The same tipping point happened in the case of the coronavirus.

Three types of people are essential for a tipping point to grow an idea:

1. Connectors (extroverts) - These people are linked with many social groups and spread ideas from one community to another.

2. Mavens (experts) - They are experts in their fields and have high influence on people. When they encounter a new idea or valuable thing, they immediately inform the world. Examples include doctors, YouTubers, and trainers.

3. Salesmen - They are people of unexpected extremely high energy, such as shopkeepers, mart owners, and marketers.

If you have an idea or work online, keep grinding - someday, you will have many of these people in your network, and the tipping point of your career will start. The ideas or things that become popular are the ones these people finally find their connectors, mavens, and salesmen for. This is the reason why some ideas, products, or places (restaurants, marts, websites, technology) become widely recognized, while many remain unknown, although the stickiness factor plays a big role. Read Malcolm Gladwell's other book summary "Start with Why" to make a great product and learn more about the stickiness factor.

Each person follows their mavens (experts in respective fields) even if they don't follow the connectors' opinion. Advertisement companies mostly focus on mavens to spread their ideas or commodities.