BOOK REPORT-Tipping point1

Book Report-Tipping Point

Stephanie M. Cozad

BSGR521 – Innovation and Change

Grand View University

July 21, 2016

Summary

This book started out as an article that Malcolm Gladwell wrote when he was a journalist for The New Yorker. He wanted to provide a better explanation of the moment when a social trend crosses over a certain threshold and starts to grow exponentially. With this book, Gladwell expanded on this exact topic and came up with a few more examples that proves the Tipping Point.

The Tipping Point as described by Gladwell, is the magical point at which an idea, a trend, a social behavior, tips and then spreads like crazy. He has come up with three rules that applies to this concept. They are the following: The Law of the Few, The Stickiness Factor, and finally The Power of Context.

The Law of the Few is described as when an idea comes to the attention of one or more classes of people, the likelihood that it will reach the tipping point will increase. He gives three types of individuals that are the contributors to this tipping point. They are the Maven, Connector, and Salesmen. The Maven is an individual who makes it a personal ambition to know and share a large variety of information. The Connector is an individual who knows an unusual variety of people. Lastly, is the Salesman, this individual is someone who encourages others to try new ideas. They are able to persuade and influence others.

The next rule is that of the Stickiness Factor. This rule discussed the small elements that are needed in order to make a new idea, trend, or behavior to stick or become infectious. He gives us ten factors that he believes are critical in order to make these ideas sticky or infectious. These factors are; uniqueness, aesthetics, association, engagement, excellence, expressive value, functional value, nostalgic value, personification, and cost.

Lastly, the third and final rule is The Power of Context. This is where the environment around us effects the idea, trend, or social behavior and if the context is right. If an idea, trend, or social behavior fits within the context they are launched, they will be infectious and spread like wildfire. If they are not introduced into the right environment, they will die down.

Interaction

I decided to choose to identify with the section of the book where Gladwell talks about the Power of Context. I chose this section because I liked how the environment or context is what determines whether or not an idea, trend, or social behavior will stick.

Gladwell used an example in the book of how there was a significant decrease in crime in New York City, when the subway systems removed the graffiti from the trains and tried to do a better job of eliminating the individuals who were fare-dodging to get on the trains. This showed that when the context and the environment changes, people’s actions do too. Gladwell explains that if individuals are influenced by the context in which they view things, would they be influenced when purchasing goods and services too? The answer is yes. They are more susceptible to being influenced at the point of sale when the context and environment is right.

Gladwell also has six psychological principles that influence into creating the right promotion and products for individuals when selling them a product. These principles are the following; scarcity, majority, authority, beauty, reciprocity, and consistency. The principle of scarcity is one that many individuals often find themselves weighing their decisions on. This says that if a consumer feels as if something is scarce or there are only a few left, they will want it for themselves. This can be true in almost all settings. I have seen many individuals only want something because no one else had it. They wanted to be the only one who did.

Another principle that I’ve seen in action, it that of the majority. When an item becomes the “hot, new thing” individuals want to be like everyone else and have that item too. Take for instance, the iPhone. When this came out, a lot of individuals wanted this. They waited in lines for days, hours, etc. for this item. Just to say they owned one. This shows that when you create an item that causes a sense of urgency and moves to a number one spot in the ratings, everyone wants it.

Another principle that I can identify with is that of consistency. When you as a consumer purchase a good or service that is great, lives up to your expectations, and you just really enjoy, often times, you’ll want to get that again. You’ll upgrade it. Again, the iPhone can be used here as an example of this. Once the new models came out, individuals would wait long hours and pay crazy amounts of money for this product. When you can create that consistency principle you will have individuals ready to upgrade to a newer and better version of the item they’ve previously had.

Learning

After reading this rule, I realized that I do a lot of these principles already and just didn’t know it. I am someone who likes to do research on items before I buy something, but there are times where I’ve bought things on a whim based on a salesperson selling me a product that he made me think at that particular time was something I needed.

This just show how as a leader I need to make sure that my team is doing just this. Finding out what our consumers need and want and getting them the right product and making them feel as if we were able to make their experience easier than our competitors.

Application

Going forward, I am going to use these rules that Gladwell has provided us with in my team’s selling practices. Since I have started working with a new company and I am a Property Manager, I am able to influence my team and provide them with insights into how we can help our consumers.

By applying these rules, we’ll be able to set ourselves aside from our competitors and show them that even though we are in the business to make money from their need of a home, we are able to provide them with an experience and life very different than others.

Conclusion

In closing, I think that this book was very beneficial as it made me think about how you need to be diverse when in a leadership position. You need to know whether or not you have the right types of people, Mavens, Connectors, or Salespersons, on your team. And when you find this out, you need to recognize how to use them to the advantage of the organization. You also need to figure out whether or not the subject the organization is about is something that can stick into today’s society and become infectious. And lastly, you need to make sure that you are creating the right environment and context for this product. Without these three rules, you will just be another organization out there trying to make a difference in a world you know nothing about.

References

Gladwell, M. (2002). The Tipping Point. New York: and Little, Brown and Company.