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

The Tipping Point

How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

By Malcolm Gladwell

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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)

Source: Bogdana Butnar - The Ultimate Books to Read List

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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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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