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

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Avec "The tipping point", le journaliste new yorkais Malcolm Gladwell nous donne un exemple de ce que le style journalistique peut livrer de meilleur: esprit de synthése, accent porté sur les faits, choix intelligent des anecdotes, style narratif terriblement efficace, etc. L'auteur défend sa thése avec une aisance communicative. La lecture se transforme en véritable plaisir, ce qui n'est pas si fréquent dans ce genre d'ouvrages.

Le livre s'intéresse aux phénoménes du type "goutte d'eau qui fait déborder le vase". L'auteur montre comment des changements significatifs peuvent résulter d'une action minime, simplement parce que l'action en question a mené au point de rupture à partir duquel tout bascule. Certes, Gladwell n'est ni un universitaire ni un théoricien. Pourtant son argumentation tient la route et on s'associe très rapidement à sa démarche. Gladwell se distingue également par le choix des illustrations qu'il utilise pour souligner son propos.

"The tipping point" mérite pleinement le succès qui l'a accompagné. Nul doute qu'il restera encore pendant plusieurs années une référence du genre.

Le livre décrit par trois phases, trois éléments fondamentaux, le point de bascule dans un phénomène épidémiologique soit dans sa récession soit dans son expension (au sens large pas seulement pour les maladies mais pour les modes, le crime etc ...).

Bien écrit avec beaucoup d'exemples et de citations scientifiques, le livre est cependant trop collé à la culture américaine. Ce qui est vrai pour l'Amérique du nord est plus aléatoire pour l'Europe plus coincée dans ses préjugés, ses réseaux d'influence et notre manque total de spontanéité.

Bien présenté, il paraît un peu décousu au début mais cela cache une progression bien ordonnée que l'on savoure à la fin.

Le seul reproche porte sur le style un peu trop journalistique US c'est à dire répétitif dans les conclusions, mais cela reste très marginal et n'enlève rien à l'intérêt très culturel et social de l'étude de ces phénomènes de propagation d'une attitude ou d'une mode.

If you're even remotely interested in marketing, READ THIS BOOK! If you have kids, READ THIS BOOK. If you care about the world you live in, READ THIS BOOK! The subtitle says it all but I'll leave you with the last four sentences from the book: "Look at the world around you. It may seem like an immovable, implacable place. It is not. With the slightest push - in just the right place - it can be tipped." Hey, I'm about as cyncial as they come, but this book got me to stop and think that there MAY be hope for us yet!

Malcolm Gladwell a reuni quelques uns de ses fameux articles du New Yorker pour proposer un manuel a l'intention de ceux qui veulent changer le monde. Ce qu'il propose est fonde sur diverses theories sur la diffusion de l'innovation et d'analyse des reseaux humains. Il s'agit d'un livre optimiste et passionnant.

... I found that I could not not review this book. After all, I am currently wearing Hush Puppies, and belong to a major religion that was born out of what Malcolm Gladwell might have described as a 'tipping point' thousands of years ago. In this impulse, Gladwell echoes the words of Margaret Mead, who once said 'Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.' This is the tipping point principle.

Gladwell's writing style is up-beat and popular - he is a staff writer for the New Yorker, and that style is clearly present in his writing here. Thus, those who appreciate the New Yorker will tend to like this book; those who don't, won't. Gladwell occasionally plays a bit loose with the documentation, and relies much more an anecdotal and consensus opinions than necessarily getting strong, documented proof. Then again, with a principle like the tipping point, this might not be the most important thing in any event - any hard, cold statistical data of the early Christian movement might have dismissed this wandering band of a dozen troublemakers as insignificant.

Some of Gladwell's conclusions are likewise problematic, again based on a more intuitive approach that will appeal to some and not to others. In particular, I would question his liberality of accepting drug use; while one might agree that the war on drugs goes in directions that are less helpful while other problems loom large, I'm not convinced (nor does Gladwell's argument seem very strong in this direction) that permitting or encouraging children this experience is the best course.

Some have begun describing the recent Hurricane Katrina disaster as a tipping point for the economy, but whether this will be a tipping point for good or bad, one cannot say. It is a sad fact of history that often disasters and wars are followed by periods of economic boom.

The term 'tipping point' actually comes from epidemiology, to describe the point at which virus and other infectious agents reach a critical mass sufficient to become an epidemic. The problem with this is that different viral and infectious agents have different tipping points given different conditions, so the idea of universally applying the concept of the tipping point becomes rather like the idea of the hundredth monkey, the idea in social consciousness construction that there is some sort of paradigm shift or mysterious shift in general thought and behaviour once it reaches a critical mass of people.

Do other people wear Hush Puppies now because I have doggedly insisted upon wearing mine since the 1970s (not the same pair, mind you)? Why did they fade out of fashion only to come back in? These are the kinds of issues that the tipping point cannot explain.

This is an interesting text, but more as an intellectual sideline rather than a serious attempt at formulating a universal principle of social behaviour.

Pour reprendre l'expression d'une autre personne ayant publié un commentaire sur ce livre, il se lit comme un roman. Je l'ai perçu comme un stimulateur de l'ambition. Une série d'exemples qui nous prouvent que quand on veut, on peut ! Souvent avec peu de choses...que cela soit la théorie des vitres cassées de Guliani ou d'autres exemples, un petit rien peut faire changer les choses. Dommages que l'auteur n'ait choisi que des exemples "négatifs"... car les petits riens peuvent aussi contribuer à améliorer ce qui marche déjà bien et peut encore aller mieux. Bref, j'ai aimé et je vous donne RDV pour mon commentaire de Blink le livre suivant.

Livre assez accessible, même en anglais.
Beaucoup d'études c'est très intéressant, même si l'auteur traine en longueur dans certaines descriptions, assez inutilement.
Dommage qu'il ne prenne pas un peu plus position mais cela nous laisse la possibilité de faire plus facilement nos propres conclusions !

Je pensais acheter un livre sur les systèmes non-linéaires, et c'est en réalité un livre à la limite de la psychologie, de la sociologie, avec des exemples concrets (l'indépendance US, le métro de Nyk...) et (pour moi) totalement déroutants. A la base, comment un concept se transmet-il, s'accroche-t-il, comment fonctionnons-nous. Un peu long parfois, un peu brumeux ici ou là, mais une démarche très originale.

The Tipping Point is a permanent fixture in my personal library. Not only is this book one of the best trade hardbacks I've ever read, but it's also a book that I continue to look to it in order to make meaningful changes in my professional life.

As an author and independent publisher who aspires to turn my "little book" educational series into a global brand, I recently reread the Tipping Point in the hopes of gleaning from it clues on how I could create a tipping point in my own publishing business. First, I sought to better understand the people around me: who exactly are those mavens, salespersons, and connectors? Second, I started tinkering with the way information was worded on promotional materials. The goal was to make the message more "sticky." I started by focusing on one of my education books titled The Little Blue Reasoning Book: 50 Powerful Principles for Clear and Effective Thinking. This book is one in a four-part series and sister to The Little Red Writing Book, The Little Gold Grammar Book, and The Little Green Math Book.

Upon publication, I noticed that initial sales of The Little Blue Reasoning Book were lagging behind the sales of my other three books. I found this somewhat surprising as I had expected the "blue book" to vie with The Little Red Writing Book for first place in the series. Although I recognize that reasoning skills do not address as clear a niche market as do writing, grammar, and math skills, I also believe that a book on reasoning skills represents a more unique educational offering. Reasoning skills are, after all, one of the most important yet seldom taught skills.

My original flap copy on the backside of the book contained standard descriptive sentences such as: "Reasoning skills help us make sense of the world, including how to make decisions, tackle opportunities, evaluate claims, and solve problems."

For promotional purposes, I tinkered with the stickiness and came up with: "This book is based on a simple but powerful observation: Individuals who develop outstanding reasoning and thinking skills do so primarily by mastering a limited number of the most important reasoning principles and concepts, which they use over and over again. What are these recurring principles and concepts? The answer to this question is the basis of this book."

The Tipping Point is based on three rules: the law of the few (mavens, salespersons, and connectors), content (stickiness), and context (environment and circumstances). As I started to think of ways to marry the concepts of stickiness and context, I came up with the following verbiage: "Never has there been a time when one idea can make a bigger difference. In the case of thinking and reasoning skills, one idea or concept - creative or analytical - can greatly influence the outcome of a personal or business decision. The more we fulfill our own potentials, the better we can contribute to the world of commerce and to our communities."

The principles advocated by the Tipping Point continue to be an integral part of my book marketing efforts. The bet is that little, incremental things do make a big difference.

Brandon Royal, award-winning educational author, brandonroyal.com

The topics covered are interesting however the organisation is bad. Doesn't have the charm to keep a reader wanting o read one more page