How Little Things can make a Big Difference

Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point (2002), ISBN 978-0-316-34662-7

The Tipping Point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire.

Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point (2002)

The peculiar fragility of an epidemic is fascinating given the particular mixture of factors that can cause them. Gladwell presents ‘little things’ being triggers for much greater epidemics. New York crime is taken as a significant example, Gladwell asserts that when looking to solve this epidemic police chiefs and other authority figures looked at “Broken Windows” theory. This theory created by criminologists James Wilson and George Kelling argued that crime inevitably resulted from disorder.

If a window is broken and left unrepaired, people walking by will conclude that no one cares and no one is in charge.

The Tipping Point, p.141

The resolution of this theory elevates seemingly little things into key factors in both creating and resolving epidemics. Gladwell places this under the Power of Context, just one of the elements that creates epidemics. This kind of relationship can be observed in the recent Joker movie and the breakdown of social order. Fixing the small things such as graffiti on the subway and broken windows correlated with a drastic reduction in crime statistics in New York.

The Law of the Few

A larger focus of Tipping Point are the people that transform social epidemics. Gladwell states that three types of people are essential to create ‘tipping points’.

These three types of people, Gladwell classifies under the ‘Law of the Few’, effectively epidemics or viral moments occur as a result of the actions of these types of people. So as part of the Tipping Point there needs to be one of these types of person as well as the right context.

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/Saleswomen – with 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.

The Tipping Point, p.70

Following discussion of the people Gladwell moves onto the message of the epidemic. In this he addresses ‘The Stickiness Factor’. In addressing this third factor, Gladwell uses the case of Sesame Street, in it he covers the evolution of the show and how it aimed to make education a mainstream show for children that retained their interest. As with all things, the narrative evolves gradually as more data and understanding is created and Blues Clues is introduced as a form of continuation of this trend. In both shows described, the stickiness factor was invoked in how attention was drawn to specific elements of episodes and how the show encouraged viewers to not only continue watching one episode but a series.

The Stickiness Factor effectively governs how well a message will be retained by the receiver. Returning to the understanding of how to go viral/create a social epidemic the list would effectively entail three steps.

• The Power of Context: The message must fit within the societal trends of the moment. (The idea of clickbait articles hinging on current trends for example!)
• The Law of the Few: If you were wishing to spread a message or idea, the need for a connector, maven, salesperson or a mix of all three would be essential. All three have the ability to spread the message into their extensive networks.
• The Stickiness Factor: Has your message or idea got enough to grab and keep an audiences attention?

Tipping Point is as fascinating for the psychology data driven evidence and conclusions as it is for the case studies used. Think of one hit wonders or companies that shot to fame just to fall as quickly. All these examples had at one point all three aspects of Gladwells factors operating in collaboration before a crucial element failed to hold its position. Often the Stickiness Factor seems to be the first to go, a company is cool and innovative until it no longer continues to innovate. An accessory or item is trendy or hip until it reaches mainstream adoption and then suddenly it loses its appeal.

Gladwell does a fantastic job of illustrating factors that create epidemics both positive and negative examples. Furthermore, it is fascinating to learn about the various psychological studies that suggest how susceptible we all are to environment and conditioning. It is also interesting to consider correlation between epidemics such as sexual disease epidemics and the season of the year for example. These relationships make sense when logically observed but would rarely be considered otherwise.

He also considers other elements of social function such as Dunbar’s number/150 rule which should be interesting reading if you want to learn more about cognitive limits. Ultimately this book is as much about how society functions and human interaction as it is about the epidemics that these functions generate.

As the title of the book suggests, this really is a pertinent example of how ‘Little Things’ can make a ‘Big Difference’. The conclusions are relevant in all facets of life. Consider how throwing trash on the floor may then make someone else less likely to throw their trash in the garbage, this feeds the message of The Tipping Point. The book has so many interesting elements that it is impossible to truly encapsulate all the aspects it depicts. Now there are studies that go someway to disprove some the conclusions that Gladwell reaches but the book is well written and offers a great stepping stone for delving deeper into the field.

This book like The Alchemist last week is another worldwide best seller and it is clear to me why. I would heavily recommend this book if you are into psychology but as suggested it is also interesting to learn about real examples of how these lessons have been developed. I have not gone into too much detail as the joy would be found in reading about the various examples for yourself. However, there will be a midweek post about the various tests used to determine whether you are a connector, maven or salesperson and it is worth noting that these are not exclusive.

As the next post will be in February, I will be focusing on fiction books as part of “Fiction February”. This will also use books that may have been adapted into film. As always, keep up to date on upcoming books on the book list page as it will be updated regularly.

Cheers!