A Review of "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell

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Created on Tuesday, 01 September 2009 00:00
Written by Ben Johnson, Ph.D., ABPP

The Tipping Point is a fascinating book about the nature of epidemics.  We often think about biological epidemics like the flu.  However, Gladwell describes how you can think about fashion trends, the popularity of new products, and drops in crime rates as epidemics, too.  The title of the book refers to "that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire" (from the book jacket).

Gladwell describes several fascinating examples of nonbiological epidemics.  The story of the resurgence of Hush Puppies (the shoes) opens the book.  He also reviews how reducing the amount of grafitti on New York subway cars partly drove an amazing reduction in violent crime in the 1990s.  He takes the reader through the development of the show Sesame Street and how certain elements of the show made it unbelievably "sticky" - memorable - and were able to increase the reading and learning skills of its viewers.

I think the book has tremendous implications for therapy, personal growth, and positive changes in our lives.  Though he is talking about changes among a large number of people, I would suggest the following may be true on the individual level:

  1. Small changes in our lives or the way we do something can have large ramifications - ripple effects - across multiple areas of our lives.  Small changes can have a disproportionate impact.  For example, making the effort to ask more personal questions of others has led some people to form new relationships and get involved in activities, such as long-distance running, in which they never would have dreamed of participating before.
  2. Threshold effects exist.  Sometimes we may feel we are getting nowhere in terms of making positive changes, such as expanding our friendship circle or overcoming anxiety.  Remember, however, that change is often nonlinear.  I have had people tell me, as part of their exposure therapy, about their experiences confronting fears.  Some people reported, for instance, that for the first 10 minutes of exposure their anxiety was extremely intense.  However, just five minutes later they felt almost normal and like they could remain comfortable in the situation indefinitely.  More importantly, I believe that the small changes we make in our lives can really add up.  For some people, it may be that they feel  a little better when they make changes in three or four areas.  However, when they make a few more changes, say in being more assertive at work and sharing more of their authentic self, they feel deeply and profoundly better.
  3. Surgical encouragement and mentoring/coaching can make all the difference.  I often find myself thinking that if someone had helped an individual learn one key skill at an important time in life, the person might have developed to a qualitatively different level.  Some skills are so essential to functioning that they can have disproportionate impacts.  I believe the skill of positive assertiveness, for example, is one such skill.
  4. If we can find a way of incorporating the concepts of therapy in a "sticky" or memorable way, ways that can be easily recalled and relied upon, real change can be made tremendously easier.  I am a big fan of both quotes and stories.  Some quotes and stories are so vivid, memorable, and guiding, that they can have again, a disproportionate impact.  Although parts of it lack substance and style, The Way of the Peaceful Warrior is a book with that has somehow stuck with me over the years.  Indeed, I try to conduct my therapy and coaching by keeping in mind that words and concepts have to be memorable and have some punch in order to make it possible to call on them during emotionally charged situations.