About the book
Malcolm Gladwell's debut book argues that ideas, products, messages and behavior often spread the way viruses do, and that social change tends to arrive suddenly once a threshold is crossed. He frames this through three rules. The Law of the Few holds that a few people with rare social gifts, the Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen, drive word of mouth. The Stickiness Factor concerns what makes a message memorable, illustrated by Sesame Street and Blue's Clues. The Power of Context stresses how strongly surroundings shape behavior. Cases include the sudden rise of Hush Puppies shoes and the fall in New York City crime after 1990.
Seth Godin credited Gladwell with showing organizations that buzz starts in small relationships between individuals rather than in big advertising, and Digg co-founder Kevin Rose counts it among his favorites and points to its useful material on making ideas go viral.
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This book has 11 recommendations
Seth Godin (Author & Entrepreneur)
Malcolm Gladwell's breakthrough insight was to focus on the micro-relationships between individuals, which helped organizations realize that it's not about the big ads and the huge charity balls... it's about setting the stage for the buzz to start.
Recommended by Bogdana Butnar (Head of Strategy/Poke)
Recommended by Scott Keyes (Co-Founder/Scott's Cheap Flights)
Source: Interview with Scott Keyes
Burly Vinson (Founder/Snappies)
Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point really showed me how it’s not always about the big picture, but sometimes it’s the tiny details that make all the difference. People tend to think that if something isn’t working then big changes need to happen to see the results you want. But that’s not the case. A lot of the time, the only separation between success and failure is a slight tweak or pivot.
Kevin Rose (Co-founder/Digg)
Bunch of really good information in here on how to make ideas go viral. This could be good to apply to any kind of products or ideas you may have. Definitely, check out The Tipping Point, which is one of my favorites.
Rand Fishkin (Founder/Moz)
During my travels, I managed to wrap up Malcolm Gladwell's Tipping Point. It was a great read, and deserves the level of attention it's received. The theories behind the work are well fleshed out, compelling and supported by very good examples.
Armina Sirbu (Serial Entrepreneur)
Blink and The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell - through them I learned what systemic thinking is and started to realize that every little thing will have an impact somewhere.
Catrinel Hagivreta (Co-Founder & CEO/MEDIjobs)
The Tipping Point – Malcom Gladwell – to understand better the expression “baby steps in the right direction is still moving forward”.
Recommended by Bryan Choo (Founding Director/The Smart Local)
Source: Bryan Choo, Founding Director of The Smart Local, on Broadening World Views through Books
Recommended by Cat Williams-Treloar (Founder/Humanisation)
Source: Cat Williams-Treloar, Founder of Humanisation: ’’Books help me every day’’
Foti Panagio (Founder/GrowthMentor)
Honestly, it’s not really as simple as following a career path, at least not anymore. I’d recommend instead reading books on innovation and leadership because that can give you the confidence you need to blaze your own trail and to take your career as it comes. I’d suggest that a good background reading list would include [...] The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.
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See more books recommended by
Seth Godin, Bogdana Butnar, Scott Keyes, Burly Vinson, Kevin Rose, Rand Fishkin, Armina Sirbu, Catrinel Hagivreta, Bryan Choo, Cat Williams-Treloar, Foti Panagio
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Often recommended alongside
- Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell (4 shared recommenders)
- How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie (3 shared recommenders)
- Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t by Jim Collins (3 shared recommenders)
- Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell (3 shared recommenders)
- Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini (2 shared recommenders)
- Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon (2 shared recommenders)
Sources
- A reading list
- Bogdana Butnar - The Ultimate Books to Read List
- Interview with Scott Keyes
- Interview with Burly Vinson
- Kevin Rose's 6 book suggestions
- Tipping Points on the Web
- Armina Sirbu, Serial Entrepreneur, on How Reading Is a ''Virus'' that Gives Courage & Solves Problems
- Catrinel Hagivreta, Co-Founder & CEO of MEDIjobs, Could Write a Book with All Her Reading Learnings
- Bryan Choo, Founding Director of The Smart Local, on Broadening World Views through Books
- Cat Williams-Treloar, Founder of Humanisation: ’’Books help me every day’’
- Foti Panagio, Founder of GrowthMentor.io, on How One Book Gave Him the Ammunition he Needed


