When traveling what do you do? You read of course...just finished Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point. Ever seen a picture of Malcolm? He's got an huge curly mess of hair...wow not like anything you'd expect. Decided to give his book a shot after reading him in the New Yorker. Thought his article on homeless people in Denver was fascinating and of course the enron spy article that I read recently. As with any popular book this one has a bit of a hook. It is fascinating reading and has alot of "studies". I guess with anything you have to be a bit skeptical as every study he shows just happens to fit with his premise. I found this book to be very much like James Surowiecki's The Wisdom of Crowds (hmm another New Yorker contributer with a book very similar...I see an underlying trend). Both books take a premise...the tipping point is that something that makes something become all present and the wisdom of crowds pointing towards how crowds make better decisions than individuals. The tipping point is based on three underlying themes: The Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context. I found the book to be interesting as I do things that suddenly become "in". I mean where did the women's thong sticking out become a tipping point? I believe that I am a little bit of a maven as I do track things but I don't believe I am over the top like some people described in the book. I did find the aside on Kevin Bacon's six degrees of separation interesting though. A computer scientist, Brett Tjaden, discovered that Kevin is actually not the center of hollywood (he is 1049th) while Rod Steiger is actually number 1. Anyway good read not for sure all one would put this into practice but next time the "big thing" comes by I will wonder where did it start!
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