Book Review by Don Newman

The Tipping Point - How Little Things Can Make a Difference by Malcolm Gladwell is a little book that has a big point to make. We normally think that in order to achieve big changes, big efforts are needed. This book makes a distinctly different point; it is often the case that to make big changes, small changes result it huge transformations. There are many common examples.

Diseases don’t exclusively spread in the pattern of epidemics. Fads, ideas, religions and products can spread like wildfire in the same fashion. If they fulfill one or more of the three laws of epidemics, which are examined in this book in detail chapter by chapter, then the epidemic will grow. Once a critical number of people have been influenced, or contaminated, then an epidemic will grow exponentially.

This well documented book analyzes everything from products to fads to diseases to advertising campaigns in advancing its premise. Even Paul Revere is used to demonstrate the importance of one of the laws of epidemics, called “The Law of the Few” and how he was able to influence a good portion of Massachusetts to rally to oppose the British on his famous ride. Termed a classic case of a word-of-mouth epidemic, it shows how quickly things can spread.

An example of how little aspects can make a big difference is given in the analysis of the famous case of the New York City crime problem. By the mid 1980s crime was rampant in New York City. Graffiti in the subways was ubiquitous and it was estimated that the city was losing $175 million in revenues in unpaid subway fares due to ubiquitous scofflaws.

The “Broken Window” theory says if a part of a town or city becomes run down, has broken windows and the like, then lawbreakers feel emboldened since it appears that no one cares and is enforcing laws. Crime increases because criminals believe enforcement will be overlooked or neglected. This was the state on the graffiti ridden subways with its turnstile scofflaws.

The Transit Authority set out to change things. A special shed was set up to repaint the subway cars on the turnaround overnight. Gradually they were all repainted and no car with graffiti was sent out mixed with a clean one. The graffiti artists were slowly defeated.

Next special police squads were set up to monitor the turnstiles, arresting and charging the scofflaws. In the process of these arrests they found 1 in 7 had an outstanding warrant for a previous crime and 1 in 20 was carrying some sort of weapon. Eventually this bonanza began to reap rewards as criminals realized they had better pay their fares and leave their weapons at home.

The same style of enforcement was then moved above ground and what would have been previously overlooked minor infractions such as public drunkenness, urination and littering were rigorously enforced. Before long the crime rate began to dramatically fall, just as it had in the subway. Tipping Points for violent crime proved to be minor, seemingly insignificant quality-of-life crimes. This is the Broken Window theory in action.

This is just one example in a book replete with varying examples that range from teenage suicide epidemics to shoe fads. Fascinating in its complexity the premise of the book is never lost and the author ties back to it again and again; relatively small elements can induce big changes. This book shows how societies are swept by changes that are dependent upon very small factors that only need to cross The Tipping Point.