? Books, Book 3: The Tipping Point

So we had to revise our initial estimate. When I decided to team up with The Generalist and embark upon a-book-a-week, I didn't know I would be working 10-12 hour days on the regular. Combine that with locale differences, home distractions, travel schedules that lend themselves to easy reading time, difficulties with the actual physical act of reading, and general discipline, its clear that it would be a much more likely goal for The Generalist rather than myself. So after first cutting the number in half to 26, I've resigned myself to leave the final tally unknown. Hence, the changed title...but hey, I'm figuring whatever number I'm currently on pace for would far surpass anything that I've done before. No onto the book...

Malcolm Gladwell is often joked as being one of my personal gods. It's probably not a joke. Of course, I was supposed to have read this book months ago but saved it for the reading endeavor knowing that given Gladwell's easy-going, easier-to-read writing style that I could bang this out in three sittings if need be. That's exactly what happened, it's just that those three sittings were just really spread out. So is life...

In summation, "The Tipping Point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire." Gladwell's thesis that ideas, products, messages and behaviors "spread just like viruses do" remains a metaphor as he follows the growth of "word-of-mouth epidemics" triggered with the help of three pivotal types. These are Connectors, sociable personalities who bring people together; Mavens, who like to pass along knowledge; and Salesmen, adept at persuading the unenlightened. (Paul Revere, for example, was a Maven and a Connector.)

While I enjoyed the google-world view (my way of saying overarching theme/thesis) of the book, my favorite part of reading Gladwell's writings are the random, but relevant, bits of knowledge that act as anecdotes to the larger discussion. For instance: the University of Utah study that says we don't seek out friends with similar attitudes, instead, we associate with people who occupy the same small, physical spaces that we do; the strength of weak ties, that is, acquaintances represent a source of social power, and the more acquaintances you have the more powerful you are; Peter Jennings face was pro-Reagan; the Broken Windows theory & the Power of Context (really enjoyed that); Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE) that states when it comes to interpreting other people's behavior, human beings invariably make the mistake of overestimating the importance of fundamental character traits and underestimating the importance of the situation and context.

At times, Gladwell's books read like they're composed of a series of his New Yorker articles. Because they read so easily and maintain some, albeit tangential, continuity, it works for me. Plus, as one of my tri-cons will say, I have a "busy mind" and such writing satisfies that trait.

All things Gladwell at his website. I read his blog and randomly peruse his New Yorker articles on the regular. Worth a look...