The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell [Book Summary]


The dissemination of concepts, goods, and actions can be related to the contamination of an infection because of a virus: for several years, just some individuals are impacted (or contaminated), however, afterward, in some time, it turns into an epidemic.

Consider the capeskin footwear of Hush Puppies, shoes that stayed as just shelf-fillers through the middle of the 90s at the time all of a sudden they turned into a product that everybody should own. Within only a year, sales numbers increased to 430000 from 30000 pairs; and the following year, nearly 2000000 pairs of these shoes were bought.

The company that produced it didn’t have anything in this contagion. Everything began at the time some hipsters around Manhattan began to wear this footwear that “infected” other people with the concept and began a fashion.

Social epidemics have numerous of these exact frequent features as contaminations of viruses.

For instance, elusive outside transformations may usually extremely impact the contagiousness of social contamination, just like how infections of viruses may disseminate really easily during wintertime when the majority of the individuals’ immunities are less powerful.

Additionally, both will ultimately get to a Tipping Point: a spot on which a serious mass is attained and the dissemination cannot be stopped anymore.


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Chapter 1 – An epidemic occurs as soon as a threshold for a Tipping Point is passed.


A Tipping Point has been the point in which a fashion becomes contaminated and disseminates just like a wildfire.



Consider a flu wave, for instance; that may disseminate through people gradually initially; however, day after day, that contaminates more individuals until it eventually gets to that magical point that the dissemination level rises intensely and the infection cannot be controlled.

If shown graphically, the expansion would be drawn as a little bit sloped curve initially, and afterward, protrude at nearly 90o. This intense turn is known as Tipping Point.

Also, a similar type is noticed in the dissemination of tech inventions. At the time Sharp, an electronics corporation, produced its initial inexpensive fax machine around 1984, in the initial year, they sold about 80,000 fax machines and noticed that the number increased gradually yearly, up till 1987, at the time it got to its Tipping Point by having sales increased rapidly.

At that specific Tipping Point, a lot of people had one fax machine, and a person who did not have it choose that they’d better have one as well

Meaning, an important change happens around a Tipping Point, making the “contamination” abruptly spread profusely.


Chapter 2 – A specific few crucial people are usually the reason for contamination.


The 80-20 Principle explains a sociological occurrence seen in several teams of individuals that 20% of the individuals have the tendency to impact 80% of the last result. For instance, in most communities,

  • 20% of workers do 80% of all work,
  • 20% of offenders are guilty of 80% of all offenses,
  • 20% of chauffeurs are the cause of 80% of every accident,
  • 20% of people who drink beer have 80% of all beers.

For instance, virus epidemics are generated by some crucial people; however, the proportion is severe even further: just a small number of the individuals contaminated do the most “work” in increasing the spread.


A lot of the initial AIDS incidences around the US may, for instance, be tracked back to an airline attendant who stated that he had sexual intercourse with over 2500 individuals around North America; doing that particularly added to the virus contamination.

Similarly, in the situation of social, collective epidemics, it usually is a specific few who accelerate the pace of spread. Most times, these people are those that have exclusive communal linkages or an extraordinary character.

A specific few crucial people are usually the reason for epidemics.


Chapter 3 – Connectors, or people that have huge social networks especially disseminate ideas fast.


Ideas are usually disseminated by individuals that have a lot of social networks. The extraordinary aspect of which those Connectors typically are not just linked well around an aspect; however, in a lot of different aspects.

Connectors have been idea propagators and nodal points of social connections. They are familiar and like interacting with several individuals. Their major significant asset has been possessing a lot of alleged weak networks within their reach. Meaning, having a huge web of connections from every different area has been more precious for these people than possessing intimate connections with peers.

Links that extend to social environments are particularly significant when we talk of disseminating epidemics: when an idea or virus just disseminates inside a confined area, it could not turn into an epidemic.



This is the reason Connectors with webs consisting of individuals from various social segments are significant to the occurrence of epidemics.

Scientists discovered with a social study that was conducted during the 1960s, that everybody on this earth is linked to anyone else with only some individuals. However, the links are not essentially equally distributed. Passing the lines of environments usually happens with a minor team of mainly well-connected people.

Hence, anybody who wishes to disseminate an opinion by WoM should do well to concentrate on those Connectors since they have been the people who can start social epidemics.


Chapter 4 – There are some people who are gifted with the skill of convincing and the ability of marketing ideas.


Some people are born as Salesmen.

Normally, these individuals are people who reason favorably and possess so much energy and enthusiasm; abilities that assist them to persuade other people of novel ideas.

Various studies have indicated that exceptional Salesmen depart from other people most clearly with their transmission non-verbally. They may sense the accurate beat of a discussion and form a deep harmony, so creating a feeling of reliability and closeness in a really small time.



In a nutshell, Salesmen accomplish to sync with other people. With their transmission non-verbally, they connect others in doing a type of dance where Salesmen establish the speed.

Also, people that are born Salesmen own an exclusive manner of showing their feelings: feelings are transmissible, and Salesmen express them really well that others sympathize with them instantly and, as due to that, transform their actions.

Salesmen have been in a place to influence others within and externally, and this enables them to be the perfect individuals to disseminate ideas.


Chapter 5 – In all networks, there have been Mavens to gather information and spread it to others.


Maven is the last kind of individual who has a vital part in disseminating social epidemics. Mavens own two unique features:

  • They know so many things about a lot of distinct aspects and take in information regularly – usually regarding novel fashion or certain goods and their prices, etc.
  • They possess social abilities and usually share their information with other people.


Mavens don’t possess extremely huge networks; however, they do possess a crucial influence on people within their web. Other people rely on the Maven since everybody understands that this person has an insider understanding.

Mavens are extremely talkative and socially driven for helping and spreading knowledge to other people. When they are sure about a service or good, they suggest it to others on their web – and people in their network stick to those suggestions.

That is the strength of Mavens.


Chapter 6 – Before an idea can spread, it has to cling to.


If you wish for an opinion to be outspread, first, you need to ensure it clings.

An opinion requires something that is exclusive, something attractive – something that lets it be different from other information that overwhelms us daily.

For it to stick, the information needs to be attractive. Commonly, refining something – even small information– in the way a word is served is the thing that makes it different.

For instance, in 1954, Winston the smoke label publicized its novel filter smokes with the mantra, “Winston is delicious like a smoke needs to be.” They intentionally added a grammatical mistake (making us of  “like” rather than “as”) and this produced a little furor. The transmission clung and eventually spread similar to an epidemic. Within only some years, Winston turned out to be the most common smoke label around the United States.



Another illustration comes from the environment of TV. The big success of Sesame Street was mainly due to the reality that the creators of the TV demonstration brought invention. At the time the demonstration aired at first, they usually clung to the protocol of putting scenes that have “fictional” personalities (the Muppets) apart from the rest of the settings with true actors that were recorded all around the street.

However, immediately the creators that kids were tired of this distinction, chose to introduce the Muppets to the true scenes. That little; however, a vital transformation has been the thing that made the show really interesting to the public. Everyone knows the rest of the story.


Chapter 7 – Outside situations possess a really greater impact on our actions than we assume.


Our action is extremely reliant on outside situations. The least transformations may own a big influence on the manner we act in any specific circumstance.

For instance, a study revealed how being in a hurry can impact our enthusiasm to assist. Students were told to go to the class to make a speech; 50% of the students were explained that they did not need to hurry to go to the class, and the remaining 50% were explained not to get there late. While going to the hall, all of them met a person who collapsed. Only 63% of students in the first stopped to assist the man; it was only 10% of students who stopped in the 2nd team.

In a different study that was conducted, the Prison study of Stanford, 24 fit men were chosen to use 2 weeks inside a fake prison whereby every man was told to act like a prisoner or a guard.



The experiment immediately got crazy. “Guards” abused their force and became more harsh and sadistic, causing a lot of “prisoners” to experience emotional breakdowns. Due to this, the study needed to be canceled totally just after 6 days.

The transformation in their situations – in spite of being a pretend prison with mock roles – changed the contributors into totally distinct individuals than they were and influenced how they acted immensely.


Chapter 8 – The least change within an environment can know if an epidemic happens.


The occurrence of epidemics relies mostly on outside situations and may often be tracked down to little changes.

In the mid‑1990s,  this was obvious to the officials around NYC at the time city’s crime numbers increased and got crazy, and some apparently harmless information was held responsible. They believed that things such as painting subway vehicles, or evaders of subway fees leaving without punishment, gave out the signs to individuals that no one cared of crumbling circumstances – and that anybody and anyone might do anything they like.

For them to deal with this epidemic, officials started concentrating on more trivial details. They removed graffiti, apparently during the night, and evading fares turned out to be a crime that was punishable. By displaying no allowance to the things that looked like insignificances, it became obvious to the people that irresponsible actions were not accepted anymore. The number of crimes reduced quickly in the next years; all with small interferences, they were able to change the epidemic.



Another subtle aspect that has a role to play in the occurrence of social contagion has been the magnitude of a team. The principle of 150 tells that just in groups that are not above 150 individuals may grow dynamically that may afterward spread outside the group.

Meaning, say you require teams, for instance, schools, firms, clubs, or communities, to be hatcheries for infectious information, ensure to make them small.


The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell Book Review


There are numerous vital variables that have a part in starting epidemics. They have been very easy to identify and maybe deliberately utilized to disseminate opinions, goods, or behaviors.


What is the reason why ideas spread similar to epidemics and which role Tipping Point plays in this?

  • Opinions disseminate similar to epidemics.
  • It would be just an epidemic as soon as the threshold for Tipping Point has been passed.

What kind of person has the greatest impact on the dissemination of opinions?

  • Specific key individuals are usually the reason for epidemics.
  • Ideas disseminate really rapidly with “Connectors,” in other words, individuals with a huge social network.
  • There are people that are gifted with the ability of convincing and a gift for marketing opinions.
  • In all networks, there have been “Mavens”, the people that gather information and spread it to other people.

Do you know other features that play a role in the dissemination of opinions?

  • Before an idea can spread, it has to cling to.
  • Outside situations have a really bigger impact on our actions than we assume.
  • Even the least transformations in a setting can know if an epidemic happens.

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Savaş Ateş

I'm a software engineer. I like reading books and writing summaries. I like to play soccer too :) Good Reads Profile: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/106467014-sava-ate

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