Malcom Gladwell theorizes in his book The Tipping Point that by altering trivial details, a revolution may be achieved (155). Significantly in his chapter titled “The Power of Context,” Gladwell mentions how David Gunn transforms the subway system by sending indirect messages to kids vandalizing the cars with graffiti. He does this by allowing them to finish their “mural” and then painting over it. By doing this, Dunn exemplifies the idea that by focusing on the small details of reparation, everything around it will repair, also known as the Broken Windows Theory. The “Broken Windows Theory and the Power of Context are one and the same, They are both based on the premise that an epidemic can be reversed, can be tipped, by tinkering the smallest details of the immediate environment” (155). …show more content…
He also says that things people conform since they see that things are already damaged and destroyed, their instinct is adding to it. He portrays a point that humans all follow each other to explain why the Broken Windows Theory is true, however if all humans followed each other, there would not be so many breakthroughs throughout history that have changed the world today. For example, Rosa Parks could have obeyed the Caucasians when they asked her to sit at the back of the bus, since that is what all the other African-Americans did, however by refusing, she created a change, a revolution. The Broken Windows Theory is not always true. Rosa Parks serves as an example as someone who did not conform. Although a change with the subway system occurred with Dunn’s rebuilding and planning supported Gladwell’s theory, there is still situations that do not fit with Gladwell’s overall ideas from “The Power of
After reading The Tipping Point, I have learned many important “tips” in marketing. Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point, identifies three important concepts based on his deep studies throughout his life: “the Law of the Few”, “the Stickiness Factor”, and “the Power of Context”. These factors play essential roles in deciding if a particular trend will work in widespread popularity. He makes these concepts interesting and understandable.
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
Most people would believe that we are shaped and defined by our values and moral character. However, Malcolm Gladwell argues, in the chapter “The Power of Context, Bernie Goetz and the Rise and Fall of New York City Crime” In other words, The Power of Context is the social setting and or the environment around you and how it affects your behavior. Anticipating resistance from the reader Gladwell uses rhetorical strategies such as real life examples, controlled experiments and theories to help advance his claim and to help persuade the reader to side with his argument.
In Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Power of Context,” includes a series of short anecdotes in which are all defined by environment and how society shapes mankind. While reading these short stories Gladwell put into the novel, the audience can conclude that the rules of society have the power to shape a person or community. When reading “The Power of Context,” the reader must be able to grasp the understanding of how environment can affect an individual. One would say nature is the setting in which a person is brought up, nurture is the care variable one has the power to influence how they behave or how the setting can define who they are. In this style of writing Gladwell uses, shifts in societies behaviors tell stories of how the setting can influence behaviors of the main characters.
For example, in Gladwells essay, Gladwell says that if a window is broken and left unrepaired, people walking by will conclude that no one cares and no one is in charged of the window. Soon, more windows will be broken and a sense of anarchy will spread from building to the street on witch it faces, sending a signal that anything goes (Gladwell 289). Gladwell is basically saying that crimes are contagious. It is true, in our society crimes are spread from one place to another. When kids see other kids stealing candy from a store, then that kid will go and do the same. Or if a kid sees another kid beating up another kid, than that kid might go and do the same.
Criminal case is always tedious when it involves little or no information about the offender, like in the 9/11 terrorist attack which annihilated most of the workers in and damaged the New York Trade Center building. However, in an attempt to identify the offenders, government officials and investigators try out different ways such as criminal profiling and others. Thus, in the New Yorker article, “Dangerous Minds” by Malcolm Gladwell; the author informs the deeper problems with FBI profiling and argues that it is ineffective. He questions the usefulness of criminal profiling, “But how useful is that profile, really?” and uses other criminal cases, group research analyses, and analogies to refute
In Malcolm Gladwell’s article “Small Change: The Revolution will not be Tweeted” There is an example of large-scale change which caused by the social media there was Twitter revolution at Moldova, Iran in 2009. People started to use Twitter as a tool for protest the government and it became a huge change. This could be possible because people could argue with more confident when they stand up against government through the Social Media. The Malcolm Gladwell’s response about this kind of social event was “Social media, the traditional relationship between political authority and popular will has been upended, making I easier for the powerless to collaborate, coordinate, and give voice to their concerns” (Paragraph 7, Gladwell) Also he called
Malcolm Gladwell describes how the world may seem immovable and implacable, but with even the slightest push in just the right place, it can be tipped. This quote is extremely visual and accurate, it keeps the writing thinking, even questioning their own thoughts. Saying, Is this true? Can really one person make a big difference?. Even if you think you can’t change the world, you’re
Expertise is something many people look at as coincidence. They see it as something that merely happens to someone. Malcolm Gladwell, however, studied how one attains this status. He proposed that it takes 10,000 hours of practice put into something to truly become an expert at it. Proficiency at a skill does not come automatically. It takes time and effort to really master anything.
The first type of social media was created in 1997 and it was called Six Degrees. It allowed you to upload a profile for yourself and be friends with other people on the site. It wasn’t until February of 2004 when Facebook was created by Mark Zuckerberg. When Facebook first came out it was an instant hit. Another social media that is trending is Twitter, which was created in March of 2006. Twitter did not become as big of a hit as Facebook in the beginning because Facebook was still the highest used social media in the world at the same time Twitter came out. In the book by Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point, it helps shows how twitter and social media is more of a connector than a maven or salesperson. Without the use of social such
4) How would you relate “the law of the few” to a transition management team?
On “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell discuss different concepts that explain the sudden spread of a product or idea. Gladwell explains that this sudden and instantaneous spread is very similar to an epidemic. Gladwell uses the examples of fashion trends, the success of a book, the decrease of crime in New York City, smoking and the increase of suicide rate. To explain “the three rules of the Tipping Point, the law of the few, the stickiness factor and the power of context” (29) influence how a trend, product or action takes off as an epidemic. In the power of context Gladwell introduces a different way of being a connector. That one person can connect to many groups (173) and that small groups have the potential
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
In all cultures it is easy to see the effects of change. Change can be a revolution, a new form of thought, or a new idea surfacing. No matter what these changes are, they often emerge from the minority. In several cases this results an uprising, turning the social system on end. Simple examples of this type of change can be seen in the French or American revolutions, and even in the hippie movement of the 1960's. These changes depict how an idea shared only by a select few can snowball into the mindset of thousands. Within A Doll's House and An Enemy of the People, Henrick Ibsen shows his standpoint on the benefits of social change, and
This book report discusses the best seller nonfiction book, “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell. This book is an interesting read to understand the science of epidemics in all areas of life. The author various examples to elaborates as to how small actions at the right time, in the right and with the right people can create a tipping point for a product/service. For instance, Hush Puppies ‘tipped’ in 1993, when a few fashion-forward hipsters from Soho New York started wearing the failing brand again. A chain reaction was triggered through this small event, which cascaded though the US increasing sales and creating a word of mouth epidemic. Gladwell explains three point plan of how any brand