The Tipping Point #1

Malcolm Gladwell's book, "The Tipping Point," discusses social epidemics, their trends, and how they became so popular. Gladwell also explains how some "wanna be" trends never make it to their point of maximum popularity. He uses the example of the once popular shoe, Hush Puppies. This brand of footwear became popular during the late 20th century. One person with social influence bought a pair of Hush Puppies, then a person saw that person wearing the shoes and bought a pair themselves. This trend continued until the social epidemic had reached a significant point of influence. Gladwell finds connections between case studies involving popular shoes, and a spread of syphillis in Boston. His explanation of why the two are connected can be identified by his rules the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context.

The Law of the Few generalizes the statement that in all social epidemics, there is a person or a group of people who spread the "disease." The few people that influence more people are called the Connectors. Using the spread of syphillis in Boston example, one person (the connector) had the infection originally, then passed on to another, who passed it on to another.

I have yet to read the importance of the other two laws, but this book has caught my attention from a business perspective as it has made me realize that the obvious connection may not be the correct connection.