So I talked about "The Tipping Point" early in my blog and how much I loved it. This did not change as I went throughout the rest of the book. There were moments where I found myself dragging a little bit only because the example being used wasn't as relevant to me or was unfamiliar to me. But as a whole he did a really great job of keeping the reader (ME) entertained and learning.
Chapter 3: The Stickiness Factor. This chapter was amazing for me. Not only because I grew up with shows that involved the muppets, but also because even though I was a little old for it I had seen many episodes of "Blues Clues" when home from school sick. What I really liked learning about both of the shows was how hard they worked to make the shows educational with all of the experiments that they did. Like the one with all the toys in one group and no toys in the other. I was really fascinated to find out that the numbers were virtually the same with the stuff that they learned from "Sesame Street."
What was also fascinating about this was the fact that the creators of "Blues Clues" figured out that kids who are four years old can understand longer segments unlike the creators of "Sesame Street" thought. The idea that as long as you make it entertaining and the words or numbers are in the right place on the screen then the kids will learn it. Like in the example where "Hug" turned out to be a huge success but "Oscars's Blending" wasn't because Oscar was way too entertaining/in the spot that the word should have been.
I then loved the fact that "Sesame Street" tried a longer episode more like "Blue's Clues" but didn't have the success that "BC" was having because the idea was to abstract for kids. The idea that kids see more in black and white on ideas and the fact that Big Bird wanted a new name was too confusing. It really helped me understand that an idea can be brilliant, but if it is too much for the majority of people to understand then it won't stick.
Chapter 4: The Power of Context (Part One). This chapter was really fascinating to me because I lived in NYC for 6 years and when I was a kid my dad used to bring me into the city on my birthday. I always remembered that NY was kinda dirty and once I moved here I definitely saw that things had been cleaned up.
Seeing them talk about Goetz's story is really fascinating. Also I find it amazing that they figured out that there are a ton of people out there who because their surroundings aren't likely going to commit a crime, but then they see a house where the windows are broken and they think, "OK. I guess I can throw a rock too, because no one cares." The story about the tokens and how the man was holding open the gate to take the tokens and everyone else was wandering around and not fighting them was amazing too. Then the part with Goetz where Malcolm Gladwell talks about how if you corner a rat in a dark scary place it will attack. That is exactly what Goetz felt that he needed to do to save himself.
I then loved the idea that all you have to do to solve crime is to constantly fix things and make it unbreakable. On Siesta Key, an island in Sarasota there is a little village on the island where vacationers can get dinner or go to tourist traps to buy sunblock and souvenirs. In that area which is a nice area there was a wooden walkway put in. It also had a wooden banister with a design that looked like little targets. Now a lot of the people who vacation here get drunk and then walk home. On the way they pass this fence. They then think it's a good idea to kick in the targets. And after one person did it, it became a game for all. It started to make the island look a little less classy. So finally the town decided to get a metal walkway fence that is just as nice looking as the original but way harder to blast down with a foot. This is exactly what David Gunn did in the 1980's to fix the subways. By making the subways look nice it helps to make people less likely to commit crimes. I see it all the time on the 1 2 3 line. The two trains are brand new and people are actually treating them nicely. The 1 and 3 are much more sketchy and they seem to be the victim of abuse more often.
The other part of this chapter which covered the "jail experiment" was really fascinating as well. What was really interesting to me was the idea that these pacifists would shift within just one night and become hard asses who decided to make the prisoners do arbitrary tasks for the hell of it. I'd be interested to see if they could do an experiment where the guards were nice the whole time. Then we could see if the prisoners acted a little better.
Chapter 5: The Power of Context (Part Two). I really enjoyed this chapter because I really like the idea of the rule of 150 which is what this chapter focuses a lot on. But the first part I want to talk about is the George Miller moment with the magic number seven. Seven is a really easy number for people to memorize and which is why phone numbers are this length. I also think that because so many people are able to do things with seven I think its why when people are told to pick a number between one and ten often it is seven. Also lucky sevens are a big thing. It's just interesting to me.
Then the next part about having a small group of people where if they died you would be devastated. After all you can be that connected to a billion people. You can feel sad, but not devastated if you don't really know them. I've always felt really close to small groups of people. The larger it gets the harder it is for me to really feel comfortable. I've always preferred small parties to big galas as well. Or bars to clubs.
Then talking about the Hutterites and the Gore Associates who both have adopted the rule that 150 is the maximum that a group can have before it has to split. That they all work the best in these small groups where everyone can know each other and form stung bonds to make everything flow.
The idea is that everyone is an expert on something and can help out the other 149 people. Just like in a family unit. They talk about how the son in one family is the computer expert. I was very much the TV and phone expert. My mom actually took on the computer expert until late. Now she is the PC expert and I am the Apple expert. (Although my dad comes in a close second.)
Chapter 6: Case Study. This was yet another fascinating chapter for me because it dealt with how a company can turn something which is "nothing" into a mega item that everyone needs like the "Airwalk Shoes." The idea that they would hire people to go out into the world to see what was trending and then create commercials to be relevant right as the trends would hit was brilliant.
I then loved the part about the farmers where they talk about how some farmers are the ones who try new things. They are the ones that everyone trust and if it works then they will all slowly follow. I have to admit I once was a "tester" and it didn't go well. It was with the Palm Pre. The phone was a piece of crap. But I wanted it because of the sticky commercials. Then after having it for a while I realized that it was not going to be a good phone and I had to have over three replacements. Thank goodness I got the insurance.
Chapter 7: Case Study. This chapter spoke a lot to me. I have friends who smoke. But more importantly I belong to a group that has recently been infected with the epidemic of suicide. Over the past several years there have been a ton of GLBT youth who have taken their lives because of bullying and they don't feel like there is anyway out. Copycatting has been around for years and it was really heartbreaking to see these kids looking for their only way out. This seemed to be the same case for all the kids in Micronesia. After all once a kid is inspired by an idea and they have no other way out they go for it.
Then the idea of creating a non-sticky cigarette is awesome. I loved the fact that they have proven that people who have some form of depression or mental illnesses are more prone to becoming addicted to smoking. This make sense with every person who I know who smokes. Most of them are slightly depressed. The idea of giving them a pill to take to make them less depressed causing them to no longer need the cigarettes is awesome and I wish it would be used more. I would gladly invest in that kind of treatment if it meant more people lived healthy and happy lives.
I also am a firm believer in the idea that kids do things that other "cool" people do. Not because the act is cool, but because they are cool. You see it all the time in movies where someone sleeps with someone and then the whole school is trying to be not the last person to get laid.
Chapter 8: Conclusion. I really liked how this chapter finished up the whole book by referencing all that Malcolm touched on. He also talked about Georgia Sadler and how she too created a tipping point with teaching african-american women about breast cancer. It shows that even with a small budget if you have smart ideas you can get your message out there.
Ok I need to go back to packing up my house for my move to LA! (I was in LA but then had to go back to NYC to get my things!) Talk more!
