Bestseller Catch-Up

Hi everyone!

I hope this finds you after a nice, long, relaxing weekend. Mine certainly was :)

I just now completed reading Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point and LOVED it! It's definitely a book I will be utilizing in my "game plan" at work. Essentially, Gladwell discusses three main concepts that can cause a business to reach its Tipping Point--that is, the point where an epidemic begins and everything turns around (I definitely summarized that--Gladwell spends a good 20 pages describing what the tipping point is, but you get the picture).

1. The Law of the Few: this is really about utilizing the natural abilities of those around you, or those in your market. There are three different "types" that work well to communicate your message. These include:
1. Connectors: Those people who connect you to others. They're the people who are big on networking and seem to know everybody. They're ones looked up to in social circles and start trends easily.
2.  Mavens: These people are a little trickier to find, but I've definitely diagnosed myself as one of them. Mavens are those people who gather knowledge about everything. They are not necessarily persuaders, but they are personally motivated to share their knowledge. Helping you helps them.
3. Salesmen: This one is pretty self-explanatory. These are the people who can talk you into doing anything. They often have a charm that makes you immediately attracted to their personality.
2. The Stickiness Factor: getting your message to stick is important. Examples Gladwell uses to demonstrate include tv shows Sesame Street and Blue's Clues.
3. The Power of Context: examining environmental impacts is essential to understanding if the tipping point can even happen. Gladwell uses some excellent examples throughout the two chapters describing this section

I highly recommend this novel to anyone interested in business novels, or looking to make their own business succeed. I would actually recommend this novel to anyone, but I know there aren't a lot of people out there like me who genuinely enjoy business novels. It's ok, I don't take it personally.

The Tipping Point was published in 2000, over 10 years ago. Forgetting how young I am, I shook my head and scolded myself for letting a business bestseller go unread for so long. Then in occurred to me--10 years ago, I was only 13. I was just getting started on reading Stephen King novels, and had no idea I would one day join the business world. Therefore, I suppose it's acceptable that I'm just now getting around to reviewing this book--but really, I should've gotten to it 5 years ago :P

Here's my information for the book:
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
Rating: 5/5
Pages: 301
2011 Reading Goal: 3,222/12,500

This brings me to being a quarter of the way done with my reading goal for 2011, which means I'm right on track for this month! I'm actually kind of surprised with that, since I don't feel I've read enough to date. But it's a happy surprise!