Rating: 
Summary: Makes You Think
Review: What makes a relationship fail or a business falter? What makes you land the big contract or get fired? As women have told men for decades, it IS the little things. I love how this book makes the point clear that it isnt always the huge productions that make something soar or bomb, it is the little things, like grains of salt that tip the balance, often unrecognizably. Surprisingly, I read a similar book last week -- Romantic's Guide by Michael Webb. Both show how little things can make the biggest differences. I give both two thumbs up.
Rating:
Summary: Destined to be a classic!
Review: In trying to answer baffling events -- such as why a certain book becomes a bestseller or why the murder rate has dropped so precipitously in New York -- Malcolm Gladwell tackles and dissects the tipping point. The central question the author convincingly answers is why things tip; he explains in easy to understand examples why events need Mavens, Stickiness and other definitions he provides. It would have been enough to take apart this fascinating subject but Gladwell goes one better; he tries to understand how we can use the concepts that create tipping points for our own use. If only it were that easy! Then all of us could construct bestsellers. Gladwell's done it with his excellent writing; the rest of us will have to study his book and hope for the best. In sociological terms, this book is destined to be a classic and will be much discussed.
Rating: 
Summary: But....
Review: I liked the book for its valuable insights into what is essentially viral marketing but I thought Gladwell sometimes strayed from sure, logical conclusions about the observed data. For example, he uses a syphllis epidemic in Baltimore to illustrate how the effects of relatively minute changes in public health policy tipped the balance and set off an "epidemic" of the disease. That's fine as far as it goes except that he then concludes that the disease somehow morphed -- that's a huge misunderstanding of Darwinian proportians. The disease didn't, in fact, change, people's behaviors did. This reflects what I think is simply his non-scientific background. That sounds like quibbling and maybe it is, but this imprecision, which is seen in other parts of the book as well, makes it somewhat difficult to accept the conclusions drawn.I would have liked it if Gladwell had better linked his research to real marketing issues or other authors' work such as Geoffry Moore's discussion of early, middle, and late adaptors in "Crossing the Chasm" or "Inside the Tornado". Because he doesn't tie his work to anything bigger one finishes the book with a feeling of, "Ok, what do we do now." Perhaps his next book will provide an answer.
Rating:
Summary: It Ain't So Obvious
Review: As someone who's worked in the advertising and marketing world for 21 years, I have to take issue with critics who complain that Gladwell's thesis is obvious. In my experience, the insights that form the core of the book - observations on Mavens, Salesmen, Connectors, the role of context, and the stickiness of ideas - aren't employed at all well by the majority of marketing practitioners. Gladwell describes emergent ideas from epidemiological and sociological research that could eliminate significant waste in marketing and advertising. He does so, too,in a style that's readable and engaging. In one sense, I found the book disturbing: I'm no Maven, or Connector, or Salesman, and Gladwell sure makes me wish I were one of them, given their abilities to facilitate change. Perhaps some of the "condescension" some critics complained of reflects their own defensiveness about their own shortcomings - who knows? But I recommend a close and thoughtful reading of The Tipping Point as an excellent source of ideas that ought to be incorporated in thinking about marketing today.
Rating:
Summary: fascinating
Review: I especially loved the magic number chapter. I wonder if gladwell is aware that there are 150 pokemon characters (forgive me--i'm the mother of a four-year-old).
Rating:
Summary: Epidemics as an Analogy for Systems Dynamics
Review: Although this book focuses on tipping points, it is really about systems dynamics -- how related phenomena build on each other in feedback loops (for example, adding food to the environment for rapidly growing species, expands their populations). This subject is an essential part of books like The Fifth Discipline, The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook, The Dance of Change, and The Soul at Work. Because the book never makes that connection to systems dynamics, most readers won't either. That's a problem because you will need the tools from these other resources to apply this book's thesis of pushing the tipping point. For people who are interested in how to start (or stop) trends, this book is a useful encapsulation of much of the best and most provocative behavioral research in recent years. Unless you follow this subject closely (someone the author would call a Maven), you will find that much of this is new to you. On the other hand, if you have been involved in the marketing of trendy items or stopping medical epidemics, this will seem very elementary and old hat. I found the book to be a pleasant and quick read of how behaviors move from equilibrium into disequilibrium, caused by some factor that creates the tipping point to expand or decrease the behavior. I suspect you will, too. If you want to apply these lessons, you will probably find the book's explanation of the concepts to be just a little too general for your real needs. A good related book to fill in your sense of how human behavior works is Influence by Robert Cialdini. Essentially, the book's thesis is that trends grow by expanding the base of those who will spread the word of mouth and be listened to, aided by powerful messages that stick indelibly into the mind and an environment that psychologically encourages the trend. The weakness of that argument is that it fails to fully address the physical needs that might be served to support the trend. Sure, psychology is important, but so is physiology. To the author's credit, the examples clearly deal with physiology (such as the smoking and children's television sections), but the book's thesis does not really do so. It is a strange omission. I think some people will be confused about what to do as a result. Clearly, this book is about identifying what causes behavior through careful measurement. The examples are especially interesting because the common sense causes are seldom the right ones. For example, some children do not seem to pay much attention to a given educational television show while they play with toys. Actually, these children are picking up as much information from the show as those that do pay undivided attention, because no more than partial attention is needed for these viewers. This reminds me of the lessons about human behavior in the beer game example in The Fifth Discipline where role-playing beer retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers willy-nilly over order and over produce beer because of misinterpreting a temporary shortage as a permanent one, creating a long-term disaster for all concerned. The obvious is often obviously wrong. Anyone applying these ideas needs to develop those causation-finding measurement skills. Since the book does not provide much guidance beyond examples of successfully and unsuccessfully using them, about all you can hope for is to remember to get expert help and double check the expert's conclusions with measurements. Almost any reader will get a few great stories to use at the next cocktail party or dinner, assuming your companions have not yet read this book. Have fun!
Rating:
Summary: Makes you examine things around you
Review: I have found myself discussing this book often in recent days. On some level, the book is quite banal offering little direction as to how to make ideas or concept "tip." At the same time, it is a fascinating study on the spread of ideas ranging from Sesame Street to Paul Revere. Maybe others are more familiar with the underlying concepts, but I wasn't and the book got me thinking in new ways. That's about the highest compliment I can give.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful little book
Review: People who've enjoyed reading Malcolm Gladwell over the years in "The New Yorker" expect interesting ideas. And he delivers with "A Tipping Point," a wonderful little book that is elegantly written and well-argued. Gladwell applies epidemic theory to social interactions to explain why communities can repeatedly come up against stone walls in attacking local problems (graffiti, gang violence, and the like), but unexpectedly turn the situation around by almost unknowingly applying the final straw-that-broke-the-camel's-back. Must reading.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Book
Review: This is a wonderful little book. Thought-provoking, very interesting and entertaining - all at the same time. What I liked most about it is that it challenges the conventional ways we think and makes us look at things from a totally different perspective. I've already recommended it to several friends.
Rating:
Summary: Obvious? Too obvious!
Review: This book contains insight into very different phenomenon, making sense of difficult concepts. A facinating read that will help you to understand society just a little better. Can't ask more of a book than that.
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