The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
Literature Review of the Tipping Point
American culture changes dramatically over time. Malcolm Gladwell (2002), author of The Tipping Point, presents a theory of social epidemics. Gladwell’s notion on epidemics and human behavior uses a combination of scientific fields such as psychology, epidemiology, sociology, intragroup and intergroup dynamics to explain the spread of social and cultural behaviors. The Tipping Point is explained how things spread from one person to another, whether it is ideas, products, fashion trends, increase in crime rates, sexually transmitted diseases/infections, and any other sudden unexplained changes or patterns. The underlying
…show more content…
The Law of the Few, as described by Gladwell, is a source of a tipping point of epidemics in society. The achievement of any spreading epidemic is profoundly reliant on the involvement of specific individuals with a significant social skill. These individuals are those who are able to help persuade individuals to try new things or begin phenomenon’s without even trying. These individual do not purposely go around and spread information to other, this profound gift is natural. Economists refer to this rule as the 80/20 rule, in which just about 80% of the work or social epidemics are completed by only 20% of the individuals. These individuals are described as connectors, mavens and salesmen, in which they are responsible for spreading trends, social styles, and phenomena in a similar way.
Connectors are those people who have links in many different territories and with people, and who act as outlets between them, assisting with connecting relationships, and conveying information from one person to another. These individuals are people who know a great number of people and are prone to making connections. These connectors work as a network in which they associate with a range of professions. Connectors are good at making acquaintances and introductions due to their intrinsic personality, confidence, curiosity and boastfulness. An example of this type of individual is the tale of the midnight ride of Paul Revere. This
Every movement starts with one person. One person's thought or ideas could greatly be affected by their surroundings or peers. If one person starts a act of kindness the kindness will spread. Same with hate, if an individual is mean and cruel it could contribute to others behaving in the same matter. Specifically if one person feels or says negatively about a certain population then others could follow their bad example.
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
Finally, Malcolm Gladwell appropriately organizes this section to best get his message about connectors and their impact across to the reader. This selection is designated to an explanation on what makes someone a “connector”, and what it is they can do that is so important. He starts off with a few questions to introduce the information in the selection, and then moves on to give a factual example. He lists the name of the man who conducted the experiment, Stanley Milgram, the amount of people he used, 160 people, and explains what happened and its results. Milgram used a variety of
Society is stocked full of various trends and epidemics. To many, the way in which these trends start is a mystery. As members of a society, we often subconsciously take part in these patterns without questioning our participation. Therefore, people continue to ignore the drastic changes in society, and the reasons why they occur so swiftly. There is a lack of motivation to take a step back and inquire about society as a whole, and rethink one’s actions. In The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell effectively discusses and analyzes how and why ideas spread throughout societies using the rhetorical appeals, ethos, pathos and logos.
In present day society, individuals dedicate their time to social media on the internet and electronics, towards updating statuses, rebloging pictures, favoriting videos, reading up on current events, and staying connected in general. It’s only been 25 years since Tim Burners-Lee invented the world wide web and it’s no secret that it is one of the most progressive and influential invention of our time. Dave Eggers, in his current book The Circle, foretells his version of what can happen with the growth of technology and social media and pushes our current standard of being virtually connected from the main social networks Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Tumblr. In
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
The author’s purpose is to show how easily people are influenced by society and those around them.
In The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell, the tone clearly drives the strategy to be logos. Logos is an exceptional rhetorical strategy as it persuades the reader, not through the use of emotions and feelings, but rather through the use of logic and reasoning. There exists an energy in the style in which Gladwell writes that has the power to persuade the audience to believe what he believes in, the Tipping Point. Gladwell does not only give us his theory on how epidemics spread, but uses logos to connect the world we live in to his theory. The author’s use of logos results in a greater impact of the rhetoric.
4) How would you relate “the law of the few” to a transition management team?
Malcolm Gladwell's publish book tipping point in 2000 main them of the book is that How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. The tipping point, is the moment at which an idea clips on and spreads. He uses the symbol of epidemics that how an idea, messages and products spread he also arise a question that Why is it that some ideas or products start epidemics and others don't?
community. I say this because people normally will band together in their community and become organized once an issue has caused a strain on them or someone they know. This shock of “this can happen here, or it’s getting worse instead of better.” Seems to be the initial phase of things. After that comes the organizing phase. Once people in an area realize they have a common goal or problem they tend to try to plan ahead or think of group ways of dealing with the issue they are facing. I should point out that it all can be spontaneous at this point like the video Guerilla gardener in class showed us. His random plan took hold in the group, his neighbors, and became a planned solution to the issues he was facing which was a food desert in south central Los Angles. Around this point people become surprised and proud of their work. Proud because it will start to show that they are helping or at least trying to help. Surprised I would say mostly because people at this point will realize
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
For some inexplicit reason, people are obsessed with the idea of an apocalypse. Steven Soderbergh 's, Contagion, depicts what could really happen if a viral outbreak lead to a worldwide pandemic. What makes this piece so unique to the apocalypse genre is the director’s ability to focus on the societal impact rather than the virus itself. This pandemic leads to a momentary collapse of social order, commenting on how self-absorption plays a role in times of disaster on both a small and large scale. Soderbergh uses numerous cinematic and narrative elements to attempt to display how an ultra-realistic viral outbreak would spread and ultimately impact society.
The most convincing piece of evidence to reinforce this assertion is found at the beginning of the 15th chapter of Thio's Society's Myths and Realities: An Introduction to Social Change. Deviation from collective behavior, which the author defines as spontaneous and unstructured behavior (Thio, p. 474), allowed Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to found a wildly successful business. Bezos ascertained statistical data early on in the usage of the internet that people would use it more and more frequently. In this example, collective behavior is demonstrated by getting an email account, registering for an internet connection, simply accessing this resource more and more in one's own life in order to follow suit, keep up, and keep pace with the technological invention that