Understanding the 'Tipping Point': A Gladwell Perspective

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell shows that it is possible to reach a point in our lives, where we explode. All the pent up emotion and anger finally gets released. Gladwell illustrates how small actions at the right time, in the right place, and with the right people can create a ‘tipping point’ for a person.“The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire” (Page 10). The tipping point is a domino effect, one action impacts all the others that follow. This is like how one sick person can spread the flu, but, just like the flu, a spread of a product can cause a new fashion trend. Gladwell refers to a spread or a epidemic to the sale of Hush Puppies. In

Gladwell was able to earn as much as $40,000 per lecture because of his book.The book served as its own tipping point for Gladwell’s career. Sales increased again in 2006 after the release of Gladwell's next book, Blink. As cliffnotes.com says, Blink is about "thin slicing" which using information to form opinions. Gladwell explains that thin slicing is used to able us to make decisions quickly. Gladwell uses an example of buying jam in Blink. Let’s say a customer goes to a supermarket- because of “thin slicing” consumers are more likely to purchase jam if there are less to choose from. Although, snap decisions can go wrong. Gladwell also examines how racial biases can be subconscious and affect how we think about other groups of people. He uses bias to tell the story of Amadou Diallo. Amadou was shown by the police because of racial bias. The police officer thought he was armed with a gun. They used his race, being African American, to make a quick judgment. This incident demonstrates how relying on snap judgments can have negative consequences, like