The Tipping Point

Norm M · Member

Book Study Questions - Week 5

Patty O · Member

Chapter 8. Conclusion: Focus, Test, and Believe

1. What method did Georgia Sadler find to tip her diabetes/cancer campaign? Would you classify her as a connector, maven, or salesman?

She found a more palatable way to present the information, providing knowledge to individuals who already had an established relationship and spent time regularly with the target audience, but who had no personal stake in the outcome: beauticians.

She changed the context of her message, changed the messenger, and changed the message itself. She set up the connections and sold (trained) the beauticians who became the mavens.

2. What is Gladwell’s view of a Band-Aid solution?

“It’s an inexpensive, convenient, and remarkably versatile solution to an astonishing array of problems.” It is the best kind of solution because it involves solving a problem with a minimum amount of effort, time and cost.

3. What two lessons does he mention from the Tipping Point?

That there are times when we need a convenient shortcut; a way to get a lot out of a little and those who are successful at tipping points do not simply do what they think is right. They deliberately test their intuitions.

Note to self: To be successful at tipping, you must understand that human communication has its own set of unusual and counterintuitive rules AND believe that people are able to radically transform their behavior or beliefs in the face of the right kind of impetus.

Afterword. Tipping Point Lessons from the Real World

1. How might the AIDS epidemic have been better combated if it had been examined as a social phenomenon?

He suggests that it might have been more effective to focus on the beliefs and social structures and poverty and prejudices and personalities that precipitated the behaviors rather than attacking the illness itself

2. What does Gladwell mean when he writes that “we are about to enter the age of word of mouth” (on page 264)?

The unlimited access to information will cause us to rely more heavily on primitive kinds of social contacts cause by the increase in isolation (especially among youth) immunity in communication and the role most importantly) of mavens in society.

Note to self: Kids have access to communication devices that allow them to fill every “dead” moment in time with the voices of their peers—in lieu of possible input from adults. Word of mouth travels at lightening speed and, he predicts, may lead to increase in “epidemics of reaction based on those communications.

3. What does Gladwell mean by the phrase “the Age of Isolation”?

That cultural groups, rather than mimicking or responding to behaviors in the adult world, pick up on something isolated within their own cultural group, (ie. teens) that happened in isolation and becomes a trend within that group.

4. What is Gladwell’s take on school shootings like Columbine?

That they are an epidemic in isolation: they follow a mysterious internal script that makes sense only in the closed world that teenagers inhabit. Like the suicides in Micronesia were infected by the example incident.

5. What is the “fax effect”? How does “immunity” negate the “fax effect”?

In a traditional economy, rarity increases value, however the fax effect addresses the fact that a single item, such as a fax machine, has no value if there is no other fax machine with which it can network. In opposition, power and value come from abundance.

The network, when it becomes large draws forces that intend to benefit from its strength. As this type of use becomes an irritation, the users become immune, such as with telemarketers, advertising pop-ups and TV commercials. Individuals stop responding to them—they become immune.

Penny I · Member

Chapter 8

1. Georgia Sadler came up with the connection between the women that she was trying to reach and the beauty salon. She decide that she would teach the beauticians the basics about what people needed to know about diabetes and cancer and they in turn would share the information with their clients. With this process of elimination I would classify Sadler as a maven because she had information that she received that she wanted to share with others.

2. Gladwell’s view of a band-aid solution is that it is inexpensive, convenient, and versatile in the aspect of solving the solution.

3. The two lesson Gladwell mentions from the Tipping Point are concentrating resources on a few key elements and the fact that the world does not follow our intuition.

Afterword

1. If the AIDS epidemic been examined as a social phenomenon by focusing on the beliefs, social structures, poverty, prejudices, and personalities.

2. When he says “we are about to enter the age of word of mouth” he relates to the fact that our society is becoming so faced paced that we are unable to experience everything to keep up with the Jones. We are going to have to rely on the experiences of our acquaintances to fill us in on everything.

3. The Age of Isolation refers to the fact that this concept relates to todays teenagers because they live in a closed world because of all the technology that they are exposed to and does not require a reaction.

4. Gladwell explains the rapid increase of school shootings due to the fact that we are becoming an Age of Isolation. This closed world that our teenagers live in handcaps them in compassion and consciousness that they would be exposed to had that not lived through the internet and texting.

5. The “fax effect” is the principle that something becomes powerful and valuable because of its abundance. If things are immune to becoming powerful and exploding with their demands, then the fax effect will diminish.

LaDawne B · Member

1. What method did Georgia Sadler find to tip her diabetes/cancer campaign? Would you classify her as a connector, maven, or salesman?

Georgia Sadler tipped her campaign by moving her information from black churches to beauty salons. She then met with stylist and turned them into connectors, maven, and salesman. I would have to classify Georgia Sadler as all three because she had to connect her message to the stylists, she spread the word from herself to the stylists and she sold her cause enough to have the stylists want to spread her news.

2. What is Gladwell’s view of a Band-Aid solution?

Gladwell believes the Band-Aid solution works because it solves a problem with the littlest amount of time and money.

3.What two lessons does he mention from the Tipping Point?

Gladwell mentions the following two points from the Tipping Point, “We reframe the way we think about the world and The world does not accord with our intuition.

Afterword. Tipping Point Lessons from the Real World

1. How might the AIDS epidemic have been better combated if it had been examined as a social phenomenon?

Gladwell feels the AIDS epidemic would have been better combated by focusing on those beliefs and social structures and poverty and prejudice and personalities.

2. What does Gladwell mean when he writes that “we are about to enter the age of word of mouth” (on page 264)?

Gladwell writes “we are about to enter the age of word of mouth” when he is discussing the movement to keep up with many people through technology; Listing specify “the rise of isolation, the rise of immunity and the particularly critical role of the Maven in the modern economy.

3. What does Gladwell mean by the phrase “the Age of Isolation”?

Gladwell mean that we are becoming more isolated by the new technology that allows us to perform many group orientated tasks through new technology.

4. What is Gladwell’s take on school shootings like Columbine?

Gladwell believes the Columbine shooting is an “infection” of sorts. He feels that the shooting the happened after Columbine were by students who were infected by the Columbine experience.

5. What is the “fax effect”? How does “immunity” negate the “fax effect”?

Fax effect is the ability for E-mail to make it possible for almost anyone to keep up with lots and lots of people. Immunity negates the “fax effect” because when to many people have a type of technology they become overwhelmed with information and become immune to that type of communication so much so that they do not allow it to effect them making them immune.

Greg L · Member

Chapter 8. Conclusion: Focus, Test, and Believe
1.     What method did Georgia Sadler find to tip her diabetes/cancer campaign? Would you classify her as a connector, maven, or salesman? In her experiment, Sadler first tried to sell the idea of increased awareness of diabetes/cancer to church congregations. This was unsuccessful. She decided to sell the idea to hairstylists. They had the ideal environment for spreading information to a rapt audience. She trained the stylists and gave them posters with pertinent information. The idea was very successful. I would consider Sadler to be a maven because she did all the research on the topic. After sharing the information, she let the hairstylists become the connectors and salesman to spread the idea to their clientele.
2.     What is Gladwell’s view of a Band-Aid solution? Gladwell believes that Band-Aids are the best way to provide and solution. Band-Aid solutions are an inexpensive, convenient and versatile way to provide solutions to a wide variety of problems.
3.     What two lessons does he mention from the Tipping Point? The first lesson in starting epidemics is that one must focus all resources on the people who can get the message out: The Connectors, The Mavens and The Salesman. Secondly, those that are successful at creating tipping points are people who will test their own intuition. They deliberately try ideas that go against conventional wisdom.
Afterword. Tipping Point Lessons from the Real World
1.     How might the AIDS epidemic have been better combated if it had been examined as a social phenomenon? Gladwell points out a man who had worked with AIDS for a long time, that perhaps the disease should have been combated by focusing not on the disease itself, but rather on the social conditions surrounding the disease. If efforts were focused to improve conditions of poverty, prejudice and personalities, the epidemic may have been cut back significantly.
2.     What does Gladwell mean when he writes that “we are about to enter the age of word of mouth” (on page 264)? Humans continual reliance on instant communication devices and computers will actually create a backlash effect, whereby, we will have an increased need to share information by word of mouth. Using the talents of The Connectors, The Mavens and The Salesman will help people deal with the complexities of modern life.
3.     What does Gladwell mean by the phrase “the Age of Isolation”? Gladwell suggests that people are isolating themselves from direct human contact by excessive use of electronic devices. Information passed around on these devices (by word of mouth) can be responsible for huge epidemics.
4.     What is Gladwell’s take on school shootings like Columbine? Disaffected teens will always exist, the difference in making them commit violent acts is that they are tipped off by an event like Columbine.
5.     What is the “fax effect”? How does “immunity” negate the “fax effect”? The “fax effect” is the description of how, with electronic devices, the more devices in use, the more powerful they become. The problem is that once society is saturated with a particular device, it begins to lose influence as people become immune to its power. They become immune because of the amount of incoming messages becomes overwhelming. People then become more and more selective as to the messages they will actually look at and answer.

Betty B · Member

Week 5 Chapter 8. Conclusion: Focus, Test, and Believe

1. What method did Georgia Sadler find to tip her diabetes/cancer campaign? Would you classify her as a connector, maven, or salesman?

Since the normal” way of advertising was such a flop, she had to figure out another way to get her message across to women and what better way to do that then at the salon. She let hairstylists be the advertisers as they had a captive audience. She trained the hairstylists about diabetes and cancer and they in turn would teach their clientele. This worked. The hairstylists would talk to their clients and the clients had doing else to do except listen. This idea was very successful. I would have to classify Georgia Sadler as all three: maven, connector and salesman. Sadler is a maven because she did all the research on the topic. She is an innovator who came up with ideas. She was also a salesman who “sold it” to the hairstylists. Then, she let the hairstylists to be the connectors and salesmen to spread the idea to their clientele.

2. What is Gladwell’s view of a Band-Aid solution?

“It’s an inexpensive, convenient, and remarkably versatile solution to an astonishing array of problems.” It is called the Band-Aid solution, because it is a quick and easy solution that requires the minimum amount of effort, time and cost.

3. What two lessons does he mention from the Tipping Point?

First, we reframe the way we think about the world. One must concentrate on all key resources and people who can get the message out: The Connectors, the Mavens and the Salesman.

Secondly, get successful people who are good at creating tipping points and deliberately test their intuition and try ideas that may go against what others may think.

Afterword. Tipping Point Lessons from the Real World

1. How might the AIDS epidemic have been better combated if it had been examined as a social phenomenon?

Gladwell feels the AIDS epidemic would have been better combated, if the AIDS epidemic had been examined as a social phenomenon by focusing not on the disease, but by focusing on the beliefs, social structures, poverty, prejudices, and personalities. If efforts were focused on improving these conditions, the Aides epidemic could have been cut back significantly.

2. What does (on page 264)?

What I think Gladwell meant when he says that “we are about to enter the age of word of mouth” was that since this is the Information age, there is a lot of information being thrown at us all at once- both good and bad information. It can be quite confusing, so often, we rely on word of mouth, especially from our trusted friends who we feel has accurate information. So we are relying on our associates “to fill us in”. Gladwell says that word of mouth can travel at lightning speed and may lead to increase in “epidemics of reaction based on those communications.”

3. What does Gladwell mean by the phrase “the Age of Isolation”?

Gladwell writes we are in “the Age of Isolation” because people, especially teens, are isolating themselves from direct human contact by excessive use of electronic devices, including computers. He says that we receive information on these devices as a form of “word of mouth” and this can be responsible for huge epidemics of information-both good and misinformation.

4. What is Gladwell’s take on school shootings like Columbine?

Like the teen suicides in Micronesia, for example, Gladwell explains that the teens follow a mysterious internal script in a closed world that makes sense only to the teenagers who inhabit it. Gladwell describes the Columbine shooting as an “infection.” He feels that the shootings that followed the Columbine incident were students who were “infected” by the Columbine experience. They were given permission to follow suit. They were probably predisposed to commit violent acts, but Columbine made them “tip.”

5. What is the “fax effect”? How does “immunity” negate the “fax effect”?

The “fax effect” is the principle that when something is rare, it tends to be more valuable, such as when the fax machine was first introduced; then again, it wasn’t powerful, because there weren’t that many machines around. Once the fax machine caught on and became abundant, then it became very powerful form of communication, because nearly all companies had one.

However, this type of use can become a source of irritation, when telemarketers, spam, and advertisements intrude on them. This causes the users to be overwhelmed at the abundance of unwanted information that they become immune to it and start to ignore it.