The Tipping Point By Malcolm Gladwell

According to Gladwell’s “Law of the Few,” the successes of social epidemics are attributed to the efforts of three types of individuals: the connectors, mavens, and salesmen. First, he uses the example of Paul Revere’s ride to spread news warning the local revolutionary leaders about the incoming British. These leaders would, in turn, spread the word to others. Paul Revere is the successful social man in this example. Gladwell states that, “The success of any kind of social epidemic is heavily dependent on the

Throughout The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell explains to his reader his ideas about drastic changes in society, and how they seem to occur so rapidly. In this particular selection, Gladwell emphasizes the purpose of “connectors”, saying that they have a “special gift for bringing the world together (page 38)”. Gladwell states that part of the reason information or trends spread like wildfire is the presence of a specific group of people. They are called “connecters”, and they are people who know, or are connected to, people of “different worlds (page 51)”, and bring them together. In his book, The Tipping Point, Gladwell uses different forms of persuasion, rhetorical questions, and organization to

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell looks at a number of social epidemics and analyzes their build up to the point where they tip. “Tipping” is that point where an epidemic booms, or grows, to its maximum potential. Gladwell begins defining “tipping” with a literal example of the famous shoes, Hush Puppies. Once considered old-fashioned, Hush Puppies experienced a social boom in the mid-90s when hipsters in New York made them trendy again. Gladwell continues explaining “tipping” with a medical epidemic of syphilis in Baltimore. Gladwell introduces us to three essential rules of epidemics: the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor and the Power of Context. The Law of the Few says a key factor in epidemics is the role of the messenger: it

Is it coincidental that Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Bill Joy and many other multi-millionaires were all born within a span of 3 years? Malcolm Gladwell, the author of Outliers, suspects that there is something more behind this occurrence than just a simple coincidence. He asserts that there is no such thing as a self-made man and success does not come from natural talent, rather it comes from extraordinary opportunities and hidden advantages. In Outliers, Gladwell attempts to debunk the myth that people are successful because of themselves, and not because of other factors. Even Malcolm Gladwell acknowledges that passion and hard work are required to succeed. However, he believes that this passion and time to put in the work would not be possible without the aid of extraordinary opportunities. Gladwell prepares a firm set of logical arguments, including the advantages of birth dates, cultural legacy and family backgrounds, to guarantee that his audience will be convinced of his conviction.

A Brave New World published in 1932 by Aldous Huxley was about a utopian society in which people were placed in castes because of how their embryos were modified. Little did the author know less than a century later the idea of “designer babies” might be a reality. Designer babies are very similar to Huxley’s idea; a person could be genetically altered before they were born. Unlike Huxley’s book, in which embryos were genetically modified due to government industrial control, designer babies’ destinies are determined by parental control. Although, gene alteration can prevent genetic diseases, predetermining genetic outcomes should be illegal because of its negative effects on society; the effect genes have on each other, and the underwhelming success rate.

Everyone aims to fulfill the American Dream, achieving prosperity through hard work. Society loves the ideology that anyone can become successful and that we all have the same opportunities and chance of success, if enough work is applied. With this ideal, people can blame their failure on not working hard enough or having an adverse life. However, Malcolm Gladwell sees success in contrast to the common people. Gladwell believes that success is mainly caused by having the right opportunity and circumstances rather than by working hard. David Karp, founder of the international social networking site Tumblr, is an individual who embodies Gladwell’s phenomenon by having extended advantages that were rare among his peers and having a supportive, relatable lineage that not only lead him to success, but also makes him an Outlier.

How big is the world? Some might ponder and the answer is, not as big as it seems. The world isn’t a scary, huge and untouchable place, as it is perceived to be. In reality, the universe is just a blank canvas filled with unique and mesmerizing people. That shapes our world into what it has become. The world would never be what it is without the people living on it. In the Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell explains the theory of the world and how it seems to be and control everything. Although, it’s the people in the world that make a difference. However people don’t believe they can change and make a difference in the world, but they can. Everyone has the power to change the world and shape their lives and others. Therefore it's up to them to decide if it will be for good or evil. In The Tipping point, Malcolm Gladwell uses the motif of how little things can make a big difference, for example, hush puppies. This motif signifies how the slightest movement in just the right place can change the world completely. We all have the power, but it can just take one to change the world.

In April 1992, a twenty-four-year-old man walked into the Alaskan wilderness alone, only for his decomposed body to be found in August of that same year. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. Some people thought he was crazy but others who looked deeper into his past, such as Jon Krakauer and I, found that there were elements of emotional trauma and adolescent defiance that led to his sense of narcissism and avoidance behavior. Through a better understanding of Chris’s family dynamic, we can start to understand Chris’s behavior, and perhaps our own. In the novel, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, we see the authoritarian parent personified in Walt McCandless and the long term effects that such a parenting style has on his son, Christopher Johnson McCandless.

Throughout the non-fictional novel Into the Wild, the author Jon Krakauer catches the reader’s interest early on in the book. Krakauer takes us on a journey, telling the story of young Chris McCandless’ adventures after abandoning everything he owned. Krakauer fully emerged himself into the study of McCandless’ life’s adventures and soon developed a deep understanding of who he was and how he impacted to world. Krakauer connected with McCandless in an unexplainable way. Because of Krakauer’s past endeavors, he was able to capture the mentality of McCandless’ choices and write about them in a speaker and subject dynamic. As the novel progresses, the reader gets the sense of a unique brotherhood between the two, although they had never actually encountered one another. As Krakauer and McCandless’ “friendship” progresses, the reader will gain affection towards McCandless.

In order to pursue what one wish to be, one must fully understand what they wish to be. As human beings, we desire to become better and achiever greater amounts. In simple words, we want to become an expert of some sort. According to the Oxford Dictionary, an expert is a person who is very knowledgeable about or skillful in a particular area. But with this simple description of an ‘expert’, what does it truly mean? Malcolm Gladwell, a famous writer and speaker, with 10, 000 hours one could succeed to become an expert in a certain area. Gladwell explains his theory of 10, 000 hours in his book, “The Outliers,” with various examples of not only talented but also respected figures such as an European Violinist, Bill Gates, and even the Beatles. In the book, these figures explain similar yet different situation where after a certain amount of practice or effort, approximately 10, 000 hours, they began to excel in their area of interest. Furthermore, Gladwell explains that there are none naturally talented or ‘gifted’ people who reach the level of expertise without a significant input of hours. In order to improve or master in an area, all individuals must contribute the minimum of 10, 000 hours. It is true, through practice and effort one could reach a level of expertise. However, there are different circumstances that oppose this theory, such as the continuously growing information, one’s passion, and the way of learning.

Outliers, a statistical observation that is markedly different in value from the others of the sample. This basically states that anything that lies outside of the norm is an outlier. In the book Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell he focuses on the different set of skills, timing, background, and effort a successful person needs to have in order to become successful. Unlike most books or biographies that write about the intelligence and ambition of an individual, this book looks around the individuals, instead of directly at them. Gladwell look at the outliers of these individuals, and determines how they have become successful, either by their skill, their luck, their effort, and their whole background and what lies around them.

4) How would you relate “the law of the few” to a transition management team?

Imagine that by taking one magic pill, you could be at the top of your world. With one pill, you could find complete happiness and unmatched physical fulfillment. In his novel, Brave New World, Aldous Huxley uses the drug Soma, to give the characters all of the benefits of fulfillment, both physically and spiritually, yet ironically, as the drug plays out its role, the “fulfillment” leaves its consumer empty.

As human beings, we are constructed with human emotions and mental capacity such as the unconscious and conscious state of being that facilitate our actions and decision, but can we control our mind or is it an inevitable action and thought? In Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell, he elaborates that it’s possible to discipline and restraint our unconscious and conscious. This book helps illustrate the complexity and serene our human minds and self-judgement that we conspire within the first seconds of any situation as we go through in our lives separately but use similar mental strategies without thinking about them.

What can one consider being a tipping point in a situation. Is it when a situation changes from bad to worse? Could it be when it changes from good to better? Or could it be from when it changes from a bad situation and all of a sudden it turns around and becomes good? In my essay we are going to explore the tipping point from four different authors: Malcolm Gladwell, Mary G. King, Lynne M. Anderson, and Christine M. Pearson. From subject of: hush puppies, teen suicide, crime, smoking, incivility in the workplace and the black women’s breakthrough into clerical work. There could be many reasons why there were tipping