Has Malcolm Gladwell Tipped?

The Tipping Point has sold over 800,000 copies

Malcolm is now a sought-after speaker commanding up to $40K per gig

His New Yorker articles have become required reading in MBA classes

He ranks #27 on Accenture’s list of the ‘Top 50 Business Gurus’

Simmons Market Research created the Tipping Point Segmentation System based upon his ‘connectors, mavens, salesmen, and innovators’ word-of-mouth system

The business elite regard him as the 21st-Centurty Peter Drucker

Marketers at Fortune 500 companies are required to read The Tipping Point

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, his soon to-be-published book, already ranks as the #1,356 best-selling book on Amazon

And, he landed the January cover and lead story in Fast Company

So … has Malcolm Gladwell tipped? Or has he just now crossed the chasm?

Comments

[kirsten]

alas. only 2 women on that accenture "top 50 business gurus" list.

[Todd]

Galdwell is a storyteller. Nothing more. I didn't like Tipping Point and don't like Blink. I would much rather read the source material for his books than his books themselves.

He does make the material more accessible for many, but there is not alot of original thought in his books.

And now the cover of FC?!

Ugh! That is all I can say.

[johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)]

Todd … Gladwell is indeed a storyteller. And the business book world could use more non-fiction storytellers and fewer fantasy fable writers. (Right?) What I think Gladwell does so well is take a seemingly innocuous topic and make it highly-relevant and super-engaging.

The FC article describes his writing style this way, "A "Malcolm Gladwell story" is an idea-driven narrative, one focused on the mundane rather than the bizarre. It takes you on a journey in and out of research through personal, social, and historical moments, transports you to a place you didn't know you were going to end up, and changes the way you think about an idea."

The FC article also addresses the criticism of Gladwell’s storytelling style ... "This raises the primary criticism of Gladwell's work -- that he sometimes stretches his colorful stories to make them apply to business issues. And he admits it. "I'm just trying to get people to start a conversation, even if the conversation is, 'Well, that's interesting, and that's not, and that's sort of bulls -- t' . . . I'm much happier getting criticized for overreaching than I would for being too timid.""

I disagree that there isn’t much orginal thought in Gladwell’s writings. What he does brilliantly is break down the complicated into something simple and easily understood. In the Tipping Point he created a new LanguaCulture around word-of-mouth ... an easily understood language of mavens, connectors, and salesman.

I value writers and thinkers who can make the complicated uncomplicated. And Gladwell does just that.

[Todd]

I know I am going to be a lone wolf on this one.

Social networks and intuition are not innocuous topics. They are critically important to business, especially marketing. And I am not sure these are topics that should be made uncomplicated and simplified (or Gladwellized).

I talk more about it after the book drops on 1/11.

[Tom Asacker]

I hate to see Gladwell listed on the same page with Drucker. Gladwell is a repackager of ideas - Tipping Point being a repackaged version of Rogers "Diffusion of Innovation." Drucker is a deep thinker with the ability to point out emerging trends, as well as recommend succinct actions required to stay in front of the proverbial curve.

That being said, I enjoy Gladwell. I also enjoy many motivational speakers. The problem with both is that you don't receive anything that is truly transformational. They are a lot like Chinese food. You're hungry for more soon after you finish.

[David Burn]

"I enjoy Gladwell. I also enjoy many motivational speakers. The problem with both is that you don't receive anything that is truly transformational. They are a lot like Chinese food. You're hungry for more soon after you finish."

Excellent insight, Tom.

And if these folks are going to refuse us steak, they could at least serve Thai for 40K a pop.

[johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)]

Transformational change is so elusive. Could it be we are asking too much if we're seeking transformational change from motivational speakers and business gurus?

Just as buying the latest exercise gadget/self-help program hawked by Gunthy-Renker will never transform us, we shouldn’t expect personal paradigm shifts from either a ninety-minute keynote address or a 260-page book. (Hot damn! I just used ‘paradigm shift’ in a sentence. Last time I used ‘paradigm shift’ in a sentence was 1999. Cool.)

What we should expect is INCREMENTAL change. We should expect to think slightly differently and to approach situations we face from a more enlightened perspective after hearing a ninety-minute keynote address and after reading a 260-page book. I firmly believe transformational change can accrue from incremental changes. Dig?

[Tom Asacker]

Well, you just made it on my Blog Buzzword Bingo Card John. ;-)

And with all due respect, I don't think incremental change can lead to transformational change of mind. I spent many years with some of the leading innovators in industry and academia - my first company won the George Land Innovator of the Year Award - and if it's one thing I learned from these bright and compassionate people, it's that an insight is a fresh and unexpected perspective that is gained outside of one's routine. Incremental change is within one's routine. Transformational change is outside of it.

And with regards to expecting too much from speakers, all I can tell you is that there are a few people who can blow your mind into a completley new paradigm (now I'm on your bingo sheet). For an exemplary example, go see Ben Zander. As a professional speaker, I aspire to be like a Zander, Drucker or Peters. I want to be in the mind blowing business. Dig me? :)

[johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)]

Tom ... I dig ya but I disagree with ya.

I love 'out-of-the-box' ideas. But to paraphrase Malcolm Gladwell ... if you always have to think outside the box, maybe it’s the box that needs fixing. Hmm ...

I reckon my inclination for incrementalism jibes with the way I like my baseball. In baseball, I prefer teams that score runs by playing 'small ball' and not always 'swinging for the fences.' Sure, 'chicks dig the long ball.' But always relying on smacking homeruns means you forsake fundamental skills, like bunting, in hopes that one swing will change the course of a game. Rod Carew or George Foster? I’ll take Rod Carew.

B-I-N-G-O !!!!!

By using 'out-of-the-box' in this comment, I just made a BINGO!

[Maria]

Having had this book recommended to me, I looked forward to reading it. I previously had listened to Blink on CD, thought it was interesting but disorganized. Now sitting down with Tipping Point, I cannot finish it. I get the feeling that I would have gotten just as much from the journal article - there are too many examples with so many details in this book.

Doing my Masters opened my thinking up. Gladwell did not add more to it except some labels. And boy do we all like labels in our society...

The book was first published in 2000. Even at that time his references are very old; some up to 75 years old. Many of his references are 20 years plus.

He tries to convince me through his examples that there is something unusual going on; however, he fails to convince me that some of his examples are induced from a Tipping Point but instead from a dramatic demographic change. Malcolm uses many Baby Boomers & lifestyles examples in the book. He forgets though that Boomers created a 'balloon' in the normal cycle of life simply by the enormousness of their size thus accentuating their own cohort and their own problems.

For several years both personally and at work, I have seen these concepts in action. I did not have a name for it. Now I can take Mavens and Connectors and Salesperson with me.

I appreciate his efforts & I wish him the best in the future. Perhaps with more time, effort, more careful analysis and up to date references, his next book will be a greater success and have better content.

[Steve "Habib" Rose]

Peace.

I'm not big into theory. But, I appreciated the book. And, as a "connector," I am starting ConnectorsNet to help us find one another using existing business and social networking systems (like Salon.com ?)

Please see http://www.connectorsnet.com/ for more info and/or to participate.

in community,

Steve "Habib" Rose
Connecting People to Weave a Better World