Leadership Book Review: The Tipping Point

The challenge to change culture is perhaps the greatest endeavor a ministry leader will undertake in his or her tenure developing an organization…

The Tipping Point: How little things can make a big difference. By Malcolm Gladwell.  New York: Back Bay Books. 2002. 301pp. $8.66. paperback.

Review by: Dave Keehn, Christian Ministries, Biola University, La Mirda, CA.

The challenge to change culture is perhaps the greatest endeavor a ministry leader will undertake in his or her tenure developing an organization. For the business leader, discovering the “trend setting” product is the launching pad to financial boon as well as reputation building.  Yet the degree of difficulty in identifying the elements to make such a big difference provides the impetus for numerous business books and the consulting industry.  Into this fray Malcolm Gladwell first entered his book, The Tipping Point, in 2000; and provided new reflections on its immediate impact with an added afterword in a 2002 edition.  Using his background as a science reporter, and later as New York City bureau chief for the Washington Post (1987-1996), Gladwell gives detailed discussions of multiple case studies from the worlds of business, educational TV, social science and politics to identify three principles to begin the change process.  Rather than seeking the one “big” idea as the key to all change, Gladwell believes “ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do” (7).  While the elements are individually small, when these three characteristics are present, an epidemic goes viral.  “The name given to the one dramatic moment in an epidemic when everything can change all at once is the Tipping Point” (9).  Gladwell calls these elements, i.e. “rules”: “the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context” (19), and on their own each will cause limited change but together the synergetic impact is likened to the impact of an epidemic of measles running rampant through an elementary school.

The first agent of change Gladwell discusses is the role people play in creating social trends.  The Law of the Few states it is “who” not how many people that are important to the spread of ideas or behaviors.  The “who” refers to unique roles played in social status: Mavens, Connectors, and Salesmen (14).  These three important roles refer to the sociability, influence or knowledge a person has.  Gladwell defines the Law of the Few as “one of these exceptional people found out about the trend, and through social connections and energy and enthusiasm and personality spread the word about” the idea (22).  These social gifts are part of the person’s DNA.  These influential people are hard-wired to operate in a fashion that takes ideas to the people they know.  While most of us operate in fairly small circle of networks of people, “Connectors” seek to know lots of people and then think whom of their ever-expanding networks can they introduce to each other, because they genuinely care about the people they know.  Mavens operate very differently; knowledge is their key asset.  “What sets them apart is that once they figure out how to get that deal, they want to tell you about it too” (62). Synergy happens when a Maven and a Connector team up, the message goes viral simply by applying the Maven’s deep knowledge through all the Connector’s networks.  Yet, the change would be slow to be accepted if it were not for Salesmen whose passion for the idea, product or behavior was not so infectious that all who hear the pitch for the new change from him or her desires to join right away.

The challenge for any leader is two-fold; either seek to personally grow in our knowledge, our networks and our enthusiasm for our message, or find these very special individuals and enlist them to join our cause.  Through experience I have found most leaders play one of these crucial roles for their organization; it is why they have been designated as a leader.  Therefore, once a leader knows the role he or she plays in the social epidemic, that leader must seek to enlist the work of the other two roles.  Due to my experience and expertise, I now operate in multiple circles that are normally separate; thus I find I play a unique Connector role between the world of academia and the Church.  I routinely have people from either network contact me for help bridging the gap to the other, and I often think how to leverage the resources of one arena to help the other.  My ability to influence change is magnified as I broker the knowledge of Mavens to be in the hands of Salesmen in my organization, whose enthusiasm for the idea will create the cultural tipping point in the direction my ministry needs to go.

The second change element Gladwell identifies is the transformation of the epidemic agent itself (22).  The Stickiness Factor is about making “small but critical adjustments” to the product or message to overcome the weaknesses that were holding back its viral impact (91).  An example Gladwell used was educational TV.  The element in the message that makes it memorable is its “Stickiness Factor”; this refers to the quality of the message as well as the medium of its delivery.    Through various cases studies, Gladwell points out the message must become “practical and personal” to be memorable (98).  This means that the hearer is provided with sufficient connections to their specific situations and understands the benefits unique to them.  Through an analysis of the Sesame Street television show, Gladwell also identified the structure and format of the material impacted the message’s stickiness (110).  This requires an understanding of the development stages of your audience and the methods that will allow them to interact with the learning process.  Blue Clue’s built upon Sesame Street’s success by teaching kids how to think using narrative teaching (121).  This is now the model for all of children’s educational television.  The trend had been established because the message was memorable.

The impact for ministry leaders to consider is how they present the message of their cause.  This has implications for teachers, business leaders, salesmen and all who have a message to share with the world.  The ministry leader must recognize how their audience thinks about the message; this is a developmental task, which guides the structure of the message.  The teacher must consider how to have their audience participate in the learning process and repeat the key message multiple times for the concept to stick.  The message must also be communicated in a manner that is practical and personal.  “There is a simple way to package information, that under that right circumstances, can make it irresistible” (132).  Highlighting the unique benefits and consequences to the individual will help the message stick as well.  While this may not be new for the experienced teacher, it is the little tweaks to the content that will enhance the business or ministry leader’s organizational message to become viral.

The final change agent Gladwell identifies is the Power of Context, which means “human beings are a lot more sensitive to their environment than they seem” (29).  This sensitivity is to the conditions and circumstances in which the new message or product is received (139).  Gladwell cites the small details that the new mayor and police chief of New York City instituted the early 1990s that that created a major change in crime rates dropping and quality of life enhancements (140).  Other consultants call this principal the “Broken Window theory” (141), which says the message sent by minor problems left unresolved is bigger problems are invited.  Thus the Power of Context says fix the little problems to shift the immediate environment and the impact will ripple upwards to the larger problems.  The context can even challenge our core values and character, causing someone to act against their nature, all due to the environment in which they found themselves.  Gladwell also highlights to important social context of the small group (171).  These gatherings of individuals can have great influence on each other, “peer pressure is much more powerful than a concept of a boss” (186).  When numerous small groups all begin to move in the same direction or buying into the same message, culture is changed and an epidemic is started.  These small groups can be instituted voluntarily or within the business operation.

An auxiliary concept that impacts context is the size of the organization.  Gladwell discusses a psychological principle called the Rule of 150 (175).  This represents the number of individuals who can maintain collaborative relationships (179).  The productivity seems to stall when groups get larger than this level (182).  The good news for the leader of an organization is we can have direct influence on the context in which we operate.  We can dictate the size of groups or the context in which they operate.  While the challenge may seem too great, small changes will have rippling effects.  The leader must consider what are the “broken windows” that are affecting the attitudes of the people within the organization that can be immediately addressed.  I have found that hosting focus groups to assess the situations that cause my students the greatest frustration can help me see the context through their unique perspective.  By addressing these issues I can impact the larger context of ministry.

Epidemics are about the “process of transformation”, this can happen through “the influence of special kinds of people… it can be done by changing the content of communication…[and] small change in context, [even which seem contrary to] some of our most deeply held assumptions about human nature” (166).  The connection between the various change agents is worthy of more study.  Gladwell has continued to write and speak concerning this topic with more recent publications such as Outliers (2008). It is my opinion that each “rule” could become its own book or research project as trying to digest so many varying components makes the implementation difficult.  Yet The Tipping Point is an important book for all leaders seeking to influence the culture of an organization or community-at-large, as it provides the starting points for creating change.  I would suggest the following applications. First, identify who are the people of influence and knowledge in your organization and then seek to enlist their cooperation in advancing a new message or idea.  Secondly, continually tweak the delivery structure and content of the main message you are trying to communicate to your audience to enhance its stickiness factor.  Lastly, walk for a season in the “shoes” of your people to see their perspective and try to identify what small changes you can improve to modify the context of the organization towards positive directions.

The Tipping Point created a sensation in the business world when it was first published over a decade ago.  It is a fascinating collection of case studies highlighting specific practices that will allow an idea, a message or a product to become a cultural epidemic.  I highly recommend this book to all who play a role in shaping the culture of future generations.