The Tipping Point (2000) (edit title/settings)

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Summary edit see section history

People edit see section history

• Bernhard 'Bernie' Goetz: American man best known for shooting four young men whom he said were intent on mugging him.
• Paul Revere: Gladwell describes him as a Maven and a Connector.
• Lois Weisberg: Commissioner of Cultural Affairs in Chicago, Illinois and connector.
• Mark Alpert: Prototypical Maven, who can't help himself.
• Tom Gau: Californian businessman.
• Gordon Allport: An American psychologist. Allport was one of the first psychologists to focus on the study of the personality.
• Roger Horchow: Catalog entrepreneur and Broadway producer.
• Ed Palmer: A psychologist from Oregon.
• Lambesis: Chairman, began the boutique agency in 1987.
• Oscar: A bad tempered character.
• Sherman: An American soldier, businessman, educator and author.
• Ronald Reagan: 40th President of the United States.
• Steve Sailer: A white-supremacist.
• Bratton: Superintendent in Chief of the Boston Police Department.
• Peter Jennings: News anchor, charismatic with powerful negotiation skills.
• Gunn: Implemented graffiti-cleaning stations to remove graffiti from New York subway cars.
• McCann: A legal analyst.

Quotes edit see section history

• “Six degrees of separation doesn't simply mean that everyone is linked to everyone else in just six steps. It means that a very small number of people are linked to everyone else in a few steps, and the rest of us are linked to the world through those few.”

  Malcolm Gladwell

• “The Stickiness Factor says that there are specific ways of making a contagious message memorable; there are relatively simple changes in the presentation and structuring of information that can make a big difference in how much of an impact it makes.”

• “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—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 Law of the Few says that there are exceptional people out there who are capable of starting epidemics. All you have to do is find them. The lesson of stickiness is the same. There is a simple way to package information that, under the right circumstances, can make it irresistible. All you have to do is find it.”

• “"Un buen gobierno es como una buena digestión; mientras funciona, casi no la percibimos."”

• ““Con los reyes nació la tiranía.””

• ““Excito a la juventud, que es llamada a dar vida a este país que dejo con sentimiento por quedar anarquizado, y deseo que imiten mi ejemplo de morir con firmeza antes que dejarlo abandonado al desorden en que desgraciadamente hoy se encuentra."”

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• These three characteristics—one, contagiousness; two, the fact that little causes can have big effects; and three, that change happens not gradually but at one dramatic moment

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• These three agents of change I call the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context.

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• The Stickiness Factor says that there are specific ways of making a contagious message memorable; there are relatively simple changes in the presentation and structuring of information that can make a big difference in how much of an impact it makes.

  Highlighted by 1246 Kindle customers

• Six degrees of separation doesn’t mean that everyone is linked to everyone else in just six steps. It means that a very small number of people are linked to everyone else in a few steps, and the rest of us are linked to the world through those special few.

  Highlighted by 1132 Kindle customers

• The word Maven comes from the Yiddish, and it means one who accumulates knowledge.

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• Connectors, people with a special gift for bringing the world together.

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• 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—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.

  Highlighted by 1056 Kindle customers

• The Power of Context says that human beings are a lot more sensitive to their environment than they may seem.

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• The three rules of the Tipping Point—the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, the Power of Context—offer a way of making sense of epidemics.

  Highlighted by 932 Kindle customers

• The Law of the Few says that there are exceptional people out there who are capable of starting epidemics. All you have to do is find them. The lesson of stickiness is the same. There is a simple way to package information that, under the right circumstances, can make it irresistible. All you have to do is find it.

  Highlighted by 921 Kindle customers

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Baltimore, MD
• Boston, MA
• Chicago, IL
• Lexington, KY
• Los Angeles, CA
• Micronesia
• New York, NY
• Omaha, NE
• Philadelphia, PA
• San Diego, CA

Organizations edit see section history

• CDC: Centers for Disease Control

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• tipping point: the levels at which the momentum for change becomes unstoppable.
• connectors: the people who "link us up with the world ... people with a special gift for bringing the world together."
• mavens: "information specialists", or "people we rely upon to connect us with new information."
• stickiness factor: the specific content of a message that renders its impact memorable

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

• Social Psychology: Takes a look at the effects of early adopters and "connectors" and how a product/service goes from narrow adoption to wide adoption.
• Epidemiology: Galdwell describes the three factors of an epidemic: The Law of the Few, The Stickiness Factor, and The Power of Context.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Preceded by The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and followed by Jade.

Preceded by One Night at the Call Center, and followed by Romeo and Juliet.

Preceded by Dracula, and followed by A Time to Kill.

Preceded by The Giving Tree, and followed by The Pelican Brief.

Preceded by The Devil in the White City, and followed by Don't Look Behind You.

Preceded by Where the Sidewalk Ends, and followed by The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Malcolm Gladwell (Author)

Other Contributors:

1. Little Brown (Publisher)
2. Sabina Dorneanu (Translator)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: HM1033 .G53 2002
• Dewey: 302

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Topics of interest to adults.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Business & Investing › Marketing & Sales › Marketing
• Books › Health, Mind & Body › Psychology & Counseling › Social Psychology & Interactions
• Books › Nonfiction › Social Sciences › Sociology
• Books › Business & Investing › Marketing & Sales › Advertising

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Gladwell Dot Com: Malcolm Gladwell's Official Website.

More Books Like This edit see section history

Books That Cite This Book edit see section history

Books Cited by This Book edit see section history