The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

The central message of The Tipping Point is optimistic about the possibilities of real change through strategic, intelligent action. Discuss a cynical interpretation of this book in which the beneficiaries of social epidemics are virtually always wealthy corporations, and real change is inaccessible to the average person.

What is the difference between “contagiousness” and “stickiness”? Describe the difference and then explain how something could be contagious but not very sticky; sticky but not very contagious; both contagious and sticky; neither sticky nor contagious. How do these two qualities complement each other?

Are you convinced by Gladwell’s connection between teen smoking and teen suicide in Micronesia? Describe what he means by a “shared language” and in what sense these two things are epidemics. Is there anything about the root of these two phenomena that he does not consider in this book?

What do human organizations with 150 members or fewer have that those with more people do not? What things are difficult or impossible to achieve in the larger organizations that are easier in the smaller ones? Refer to Gladwell’s examples in your answer and come up with two of your own.

Gladwell argues that essential character traits are less important than one’s specific context when making ethical choices, and he describes the Good Samaritan research and the Stanford Prison Experiment as evidence for this. Argue whether this point of view is correct or incorrect, identifying its strengths and its omissions.

Paying attention to the rules of stickiness, design a children’s show that would grab the attention of children even more perfectly than Blue’s Clues. How long would it be? Would it have short segments, or would it feature one longer narrative? What kind of characters would be included? Be as detailed as possible, and try to guarantee that a child would have no reason to be distracted.

In what context does Gladwell discuss emotional contagion and nonverbal cues? What are emotional contagion and nonverbal communication useful for? What is the connection between these and epidemics or tipping? Invent two optimistic examples of emotional contagion/nonverbal cues with positive outcomes and two that lead to negative outcomes.

Invent one example of a Maven who is useful for precipitating social epidemics and another one who is not a true Maven and is a hindrance to epidemics. What are the qualities of each? Follow these steps for Connectors and Salesmen, too.