Tipping Point
Tipping Point Discussion Questions
Introduction
1) What was the point Gladwell makes with the Hush Puppy story? Hush Puppy is a kind of classic American shoes which were considered to be old fashioned in 1994. However, because no one would wear Hush Puppy in that age, this kind of shoes became so unique and catch some fashion designer’s attention, and then Hush Puppy became popular again. Hush Puppy story is an example of epidemics in action, through this story, Gladwell demonstrated the contagious behavior. 2) List the principles of change and epidemics.
1. Contagiousness
2. Little causes have big effects
3. Change happens at one point, not gradually – tipping point 3) Talk about critical mass and boiling point. Critical mass and boiling point means the moment of critical mass. Gladwell related this phenomenon with the 80/20 Principle. When 20% in a group changed, the rest 80% would have change quickly after the point.
Chapter 1 1) Explain the “law of the few.” Winston Slogan The success of any kind of social epidemic is heavily dependent on the involvement of people with a particular and rare set of social gifts. According to Malcolm Gladwell, economists call this the "80/20 Principle, which is the idea that in any situation roughly 80 percent of the 'work' will be done by 20 percent of the participants. 2) Describe what the author means by the “stickiness factor”. The Stickiness Factor says that there are specific ways of making a contagious message memorable; there are relatively simple changes in the presentation and structuring of information that can make a big difference in how much of an impact it makes. Popular children's television programs such as Sesame Street and Blue's Clues pioneered the properties of the stickiness factor, thus enhancing the effective retention of the educational content in tandem with its entertainment value. 3) In your own words, tell about the meaning of “the power of
Introduction
1) What was the point Gladwell makes with the Hush Puppy story? Hush Puppy is a kind of classic American shoes which were considered to be old fashioned in 1994. However, because no one would wear Hush Puppy in that age, this kind of shoes became so unique and catch some fashion designer’s attention, and then Hush Puppy became popular again. Hush Puppy story is an example of epidemics in action, through this story, Gladwell demonstrated the contagious behavior. 2) List the principles of change and epidemics.
1. Contagiousness
2. Little causes have big effects
3. Change happens at one point, not gradually – tipping point 3) Talk about critical mass and boiling point. Critical mass and boiling point means the moment of critical mass. Gladwell related this phenomenon with the 80/20 Principle. When 20% in a group changed, the rest 80% would have change quickly after the point.
Chapter 1 1) Explain the “law of the few.” Winston Slogan The success of any kind of social epidemic is heavily dependent on the involvement of people with a particular and rare set of social gifts. According to Malcolm Gladwell, economists call this the "80/20 Principle, which is the idea that in any situation roughly 80 percent of the 'work' will be done by 20 percent of the participants. 2) Describe what the author means by the “stickiness factor”. The Stickiness Factor says that there are specific ways of making a contagious message memorable; there are relatively simple changes in the presentation and structuring of information that can make a big difference in how much of an impact it makes. Popular children's television programs such as Sesame Street and Blue's Clues pioneered the properties of the stickiness factor, thus enhancing the effective retention of the educational content in tandem with its entertainment value. 3) In your own words, tell about the meaning of “the power of