Book Review- The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

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“Naam Bade aur darshan chote” (Review in one line!!)

Well, I chose this book purely because it is an international bestseller and because I had a fair experience reading Malcolm Gladwell’s Outlier. However, this time it was a little disappointing to read from him. Throughout the book, I found baseless arguments and irrelevant examples trying to prove some or other points.

“The tipping point” with a glowing matchstick ‘i’ in “point” (book cover) poofed my interest with the 1st chapter titled Three Rules of Epidemics wherein the point was made that just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate.

The book is generally written from a socio-economic perspective and discusses how information spreads among people, why some ideas/products spread quickly and effectively, and whether there are kinds of people who are better at transmitting information. In summary, the three major factors responsible for the “Tipping Point” causing the change are the law of the few, the stickiness factor, and the power of context.

Overall, the book has great terminologies and quotes/thoughts all over the pages, but there is no proper direction for defining conclusions.


Quotes from the book

“The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behaviour crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire.”

“Look at the world around you. It may seem like an immovable, implacable place. It is not. With the slightest push—in just the right place—it can be tipped.”

“There are specific situations so powerful that they can overwhelm our inherent predispositions.”

“In the end, Tipping Points are the reaffirmation of the potential for change and the power of intelligent action.”

“The world - much as we want it to - does not accord with our intuition.”