I recently read Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point for my Organizational Behavior class at Chapman. Although the number of "AhHA! moments" I had when reflecting on the material were abundant, (especially when connecting the dots between the factors that influence a social epidemic and effective styles of leadership) the most significant concept was this: SMALL actions can lead to BIG change.
Let me back-track a bit. The purpose of Gladwell's book is to provide a possible explanation for social epidemics. He explains, “The name given to the one dramatic moment in an epidemic when everything can change all at once is the tipping point,” he continues, “the idea that things can rise and fall in one dramatic moment."
Gladwell describes three characteristics of a social epidemic:
Contagiousness
Small Actions --> Big Change
Tipping points happen in one dramatic moment
He then goes on to explain the factors that allow for these characteristics:
The law of the few
Stickiness factor
The power of context
These people include: connectors, mavens, and salesmen.
The Stickiness factor
Connectors: are the glue of a social epidemic because “they know lots of people, they are people whom all of us can reach in only a few steps because they manage to occupy many different worlds and subcultures and niches." A connector is someone who is curious, self-confident, sociable and energetic, capable of linking people with people Mavens are the databanks of a social epidemic, they provide the message then allow connectors to act as the social glue to spread the message.
Market mavens: people who know something the rest of us don’t and they know how and love to pass the information along.
Salesman: someone who makes you feel in tune with what they’re saying, they have the skills to persuade us when we are unconvinced of what we are hearing. These people are energetic, enthusiastic, charming and likable, and he/she uses these personality traits to infect everyone they are around.
Innovator: these are the people who are willing to adopt revolutionary trends. Translators then adopt and adapt the revolutionary trends form the innovators and make it usable (generic enough) for the mainstream.
The Stickiness factor
The Stickiness Factor describes the type of trend that have the ability to turn into a social epidemic. These messages must make a memorable impact, be appealing, be widely understood, practical and personal. Stickiness usually occurs when there is a “simple way to package information that, under the right circumstances can make it irresistible."
The Power of Context
The power of context refers to the prodigious influence that an environment and situation has on the success of the diffusion of a social epidemic.
Taking all of this into consideration, our class was assigned the task of creating our own tipping point or completing a case study of trends that are capable of tipping, resulting in a social epidemic. I was (inconveniently) placed in a group of 3 "Management Majors" and 1 (Thank Goodness) "Lead Minor" (PS. It's unbelievable how much you can know about someone based solely on their choice of collegiate study). Our "team" experienced conflict over everything from topic choice to verbiage. Overall, the project left me feeling less than satisfied since the aspect of PURPOSE was widely ignored. (I'm too embarrassed to even explain the tipping point we ACTUALLY chose to create -- Needless to say.. it was lame.)
This would have been a great idea:
The eco-friendly, reusable, grocery bag
(This one: BagguBag)
The eco-friendly awareness trend started when grocery stores began promoting their own "social responsibility" by selling reusable bags. At some point retailers, taking note of the fashion trend, started capitalizing on the concept. (Including: Target, Macy's, Whole Foods) (There's definitely something sticky about being able to purchase "designer" bags like the one above) The "reusable bag" is a retailer's dream. Using a branded bag tells the world where YOU shop. Self-indulgent, ostentatious... well really your average consumer... loves that. A bag that makes it from the shop, through the mall (or parking lot) to the consumers home then makes it's way back into the store... priceless. -- The jury is still out on the topic of actual eco-friendliness... but hey... a small action, like purchasing and using a reusable shopping bag, that an individual can take to make a big impact... it's a novel thought.
Either way, I think this trend tipped it's way right into a social epidemic.
Happy Earth Day!
