What I have read about is rather interesting. In The Tipping Point, Gladwell starts off by talking about Hush Puppies, a once unpopular shoe brand, and how practically overnight, it became the next fad. To help the reader better understand this, he talks about many different examples of change overnight. The one that stuck with me the most was Gladwell's story about his puppy seeing the snow for the first time. The night before had a similar temperature of about 33 degrees and the next morning was 31 degrees. However, snow covered the ground, causing the puppy much delight, unlike the night before. The temperature had only dropped two degrees and it made a huge difference. The point he was making was that change occurs rather quickly and that things become "in" almost overnight. Back to the Hush Puppies, Gladwell said no one would ever wear them at first. When teenagers and some model wore them, everyone went out and bought them and sales skyrocketed.
In the first chapter, Gladwell starts speaking about the syphilis epidemic that occurred in Baltimore. There had always been sexually transmitted diseases, like syphilis, in Baltimore, however, in the 90's, people who had this disease increased greatly. Gladwell got three different opinions as to why this became an epidemic. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) stated that it was due to crack cocaine, since it causes people to want engage in sexual behavior. Also, when people want to buy crack, they tend to go into poorer areas where these sexually transmitted diseases are more present. This increases the chance of buyers to bring back these diseases into their own neighborhoods, causing it to spread. Zenilman, an expert in sexually transmitted diseases, believed that the increase in syphilis was due to STD clinics having less employees working there. Finally, Potterat, a leading epidemiologist, thinks that this is occurring because of public housing being shut down. What is important to notice, is that all three point out the change that they believe set off a syphilis epidemic, showing that something small can set off something like an epidemic.
There is something known as the 80/20 Principle, which means that eighty percent of work is done by only twenty percent of people. For example, Darnell "Boss Man" McGee was a man who went to a skating rink often and picked up thirteen to fourteen year olds, He gave them crack and had sex with them and within over the hundred partners he had, he gave around thirty a sexually transmitted disease. This specific example portrays the 80/20 Principle.
This book is starting off a little weird. It's interesting and I was even able to make a connection to my history class this year. Gladwell told the story of how Kitty Genovese was stabbed multiple times in one night and her whole apartment building heard and saw what was happening, yet no one called the police until after. We studied this particular case in my Legal Studies class and I found that to be pretty cool. I like how Gladwell is connecting the business world with these HIV and murder stories because it gives liveliness to this topic. I do hope he gets more into business, though. I am excited to keep reading forward.
As you continue reading, you won't find a ton about business, per se, but you'll find a lot about how trends start, and this is crucial for business. For example, as your team starts to sell the wrist bands, you'll want to think about how you can get lots of kids to want them. What will get the ball rolling? what will help you go quickly from a few kids wanting them to a lot of kids wanting them? Who are the trend setters at BHS? what techniques can you use to position these bands as the must-have holiday thing? Again, Gladwell is not writing directly about business; he's writing about a phenomenon (tipping points) that are essential to business success, however.
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