Book Presentation

When scientists study epidemics, they refer to a “tipping point” as being the moment at which a virus reaches critical mass and then exhibits sudden and dramatic growth almost overnight. New ideas in politics and society at large exhibit the same behavior. Ideas can start at the fringes and struggle to rise above the background noise for quite some time but once they reach their own tipping points, they will suddenly enjoy exponential growth and migrate into wide-scale popularity.

There are three factors which each play a role in determining whether a new idea stays in the background or instead goes viral and tips into wide-scale popularity and influence. Those factors are:

While the notion that there is a single point at which a new idea shows a sharp and dramatic uptick in growth and acceptance may sound farfetched and unlikely, tipping points do exist. The world we know is not always linear where the results generated are commensurate with the effort invested. Ideas follow the pattern of viruses where exponential rather than geometric growth is the norm. Big changes in society can sometimes flow from small events and these changes can happen very quickly.

Malcolm Gladwell has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1996. He previously covered business and science forThe Washington Post. He is the author of fourNew York Times Bestsellersand is a popular keynote speaker.

This is a summary and not a critique or a review of the book. It does not offer judgment or opinion on the content of the book.  This summary may not be organized chapter-wise but is an overview of the main ideas, viewpoints and arguments from the book as a whole. This means that the organization of this summary is not a representation of the book.