Tipping Point

Today's blog post is based on the book 'The Tippint Point' by Malcolm Gladwell. I have just one regret when writing this; That is 'why didn't I read this earlier?'. The book was that much interesting to me. Frankly, it is all about how 'epidemics' start and spread. These so called 'epidemics' can be anything ranging from diseases to crimes and advertising campaigns. I would try to explain as much as I can in here on what it is all about, which I suppose is worth knowing to almost anybody.


The author provides so many example scenarios from the real world to show how 'tipping points' can be reached from any situation if it has the correct 'ingredients' involved. Tipping point is the moment where an otherwise normal situation reaches a peak regarding statistics. 'Ingredients' affecting such scenarios fall into a few categories, namely Connectors, Mavens, Salesmen and 'Permission-givers'. Most importantly, tipping points of epidemics can be explained through 3 important rules.

1. The Law of the Few
2. Stickiness Factor
3. The Power of Context

I guess I have confused you enough now. So I will try to explain it all through some examples used by the author in this book.


The Law of the Few


Have you ever read about American Revolution? Maybe most of you have; But have you ever stopped to analyze what caused it's success? I guess not. One man named Paul Revere is to be credited for the initial effort of carrying the message 'The British are coming' in one night, alerting the north and west parts of Boston town. This historical journey awakened the citizens making it possible to defeat the British Colonial army. So what is so special about it? Anyone could have done it!! That must be what some of you are thinking right now. But the amazing thing is that the other messenger who went in the opposite direction couldn't achieve that much of a result. Why? Well, it's simple. He didn't know where to stop or knock and he was not social like Paul Revere; Paul Revere gave the message to every person he met and stopped at every crucial point. That was the difference between an ordinary person and him. This is what the rule 'Law of The Few' about. There are certain people who are gifted with the power of making a lot of social connections (acquaintances) and these people are called 'Connectors'. 


So who are 'Mavens' then? They are people who belong to this 'Few' category as well. To explain, I could give a simple example. How many friends you have, who have the quality of recommending things to you? These people like to send you to the best places they have experienced with the best prices. Such personalities belong to 'Mavens'. They enjoy helping other people with the market knowledge they have. These Mavens are one reason why all these Merchants keep away from cheating consumers most of the time since they know that there would be few people who can notice their frauds. 



In a social epidemic, Mavens are data banks. They provide the message. Connectors are social glue: they spread it. But there is also a select group of people, 'Salesmen'! These Salesmen have the skills to persuade us when we are unconvinced of what we are hearing, and they are as critical to the tipping of word-of-mouth epidemics as the other two groups.So who are these Salesmen? And what makes them so good at what they do? Such people actually are brilliant in selling a product to you. They do not have any bad intention actually. They are just so good at what they are doing since they love it. These Salesman would go to the extent of studying the kind of questions the consumers ask and be prepared for that anytime and have the ability to make the consumer feel happy with whatever they buy. How many people could do that?


Well, I suppose I have explained enough here for anybody to grasp the rule ' Law of the Few'. So I will be moving on to explain the next one: The Stickiness Factor!


The Stickiness Factor


To me, the name says it all. Stickiness means it has a glue-like quality right? So thats's what all it's about. You can start anything new easily and gain attention. But to keep the attention going you have to have the stickiness factor. A famous example can be given from the book using 'Sesame Street'. Sesame Street is not another children's TV program. It has been airing since 1960's and still keeps its popularity among kids. So what is the reason behind it? It is the amount of effort spent by the creators of this program to make it sticky!!


Even I was surprised when reading it; I never knew!! Before airing of the program in 1960's, they have tested  it with kids and have discovered some crucial weaknesses(What child psychologists said to the show people were not to mix up muppets and adults together in conversation since it will affect the child's idea about reality. But children lost interest in the show, when there were just adult conversations). So rather than listening to what child psychologists recommended, they have put faith on what they have discovered; That decision gave birth to Big bird and Oscar on the show who are the most renowned characters of it, yet. Before airing each episode the crew tests it with kids analyzing which parts kept their interest and which parts do not. In addition, they have also done researches on whether the show was actually successful in teaching kids what they wanted to teach. In addition, the show never airs any episodes which they find out to be less interesting than 80%. The result is they have created an epidemic in children's TV shows. It's not an incremental achievement. It's a sudden achievement since the days it aired. That's why it is called as 'epidemic' and it was caused by the little factors which the show's created focused on. So it is not just one show; It is a 'Sticky' show!


Next comes the 3rd and final rule; The Power of Context.


The Power of Context


This is the 3rd factor which affect an epidemic to grow. To explain, I will have to use an example from USA during 1980's. This period saw the worst era of Criminal history in New York city where the crime rate was so high and there were so many murders taking place inside the city. But during 1990's, the situation suddenly became different when the crime rate suddenly fell. Why? What was the reason behind it? Surprisingly, some small changes in the environment has caused it. This is what ' the Power of Context' about. The Police Chief of New York had implemented the 'Broken Window' theory, to achieve this result. What that means is, if u left one small thing unattended, it will lead to more things. For example, they have implemented a rule to stop youngsters from painting graffiti on public property. As this 'painting' was done at night, as soon as the youngsters left  after a painting job, the Police would spray new paint over it. This made these youngsters tearful once they saw it in the morning.  Similarly, small procedures were carried to stop people from breaking small laws in every kind of situation. This had a big effect on the people. They began to sense that if small laws cannot be broken, then big crimes would not go unpunished easily. Once the environment got better, the crime rate decreased in a surprising manner. This is the 'Power of Context'.


So I guess I'm done explaining the main points of the book. Finally, what kind of a lesson can we gain from these rules? It is not hard to understand; Simply, if you want to make something work, to start an 'epidemic', then you have to attend to these 3 rules, for it's simple things which make big differences. When you want to start a business, launch an advertisement campaign, put an end to crimes or epidemics like smoking, all you have to do is discover that small factor which would make your idea reach a tipping point. And I hope all of us can do it, some day!