Tipping Point: Focusing on Threshold

We have used so many words like Epidemic, Virus breakout and Viral videos in recent past. Have you ever wondered what is common between all of them and analyzed what causes spread at such speed.

Why some new items become so widespread that you may wonder what was so unique about it circulate so fast? Does it depend on the person who started it? Does the idea itself make it happen? Is it by accident or something which can be analyzed and planned?

It is a matter of research for all to study and see why some videos /apps just spread like wild fire in few days?

In other words when and how does something cross the tipping point

?The phrase “Tipping point” was first used in sociology by Morton Grodzins when he adopted the phrase from physics where?it referred to the adding a small amount of weight to a balanced object until the additional weight caused the object to suddenly and completely topple, or tip.

In common language it may be also called as breaking point or the moment of truth or the point of no return.

While thinking on the subject, I came across a book “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell. It was first published in 2000. Found it to be an extremely well written and very relevant for many developments in current world where technology /social media plays a vital role in such events.

Many points in the books seem very relevant to businesses as well, whether for product launches, market development, media campaigns, or even to startup for expansion plans. They are equally relevant to many social problems and the way we address them.

I am sure this will be of interest to many and I thought of putting together my learning as a quick read.

To start from the beginning, we must recognize that Tipping points gives us some measure of hopefulness, particularly in many burning social issues or environmental concerns. For the business world, it represents hope that smaller companies with limited resources can dream big if they are used to cross the tipping point for their products/ ideas.

It reenforces belief that “Change is possible. That people can radically change face of right kind of impetus”

Factors relevant to reach such tipping point quickly would be many. They may include:

·???????Changing /questioning existing patterns based on intuition or recognition of latent demand,

·???????Support by few targeted groups who will act as propagators of the idea /products,

·???????Getting the right context that the content becomes very relevant to some burning issue /problem,

·???????An idea /product /ad campaign which sticks to the mind of people when they see it

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With this brief introduction, let me highlight some very important concepts from the book:

The Law of the Few?(People):

We can call them as people with exceptional drive to create something, start some movement, make radical social changes. Whatever the odds, efforts of this small percentage of people build huge initial momentum that would create the force required for things to grow big.

These people are not necessarily in managerial positions or in a position of authority but, they are single-handedly responsible for many trends around us today.

In many ways, entrepreneurs fall in this category too. Their decisions, risk they take may not be driven by logic but by their intuition and conviction to give the idea everything they may have.

Change Agents:

Connectors?(the Social Glue): They have a flair to connect with people from various fields, diverse backgrounds, interests and even age groups. They seem to know everybody, have more social connections than most & are great at making friends. It makes them an important factor in propagating anything very quickly and effectively.

Mavens?(the Data Banks): They love to accumulate and share information. Subjects may include, Local shops, Doctors, commercial information, current trends and so on. They seem to know everything and always want to help! However, they are not persuaders and will not push to follows what they say.

Salesmen?(the Persuaders): They go a step forward and their persuasive abilities go beyond convincing. They would like to influence others’ buying decisions. Their Charisma helps to sell almost anything (ideas, products, way of thinking, etc.).

The Stickiness Factor?(Infectious Agents)

There are many techniques to make something stick, including the use of stories, unexpectedness (breaking the script), and concreteness. Success often hinges on small details rather than major changes.

Knowing your target audience in mind, we need to have something that will substantially increase the impact of the idea being presented

The tough part is to find the right stickiness factor without affecting the idea being presented.

I tend to think that some deliberate distractions in movies like songs or comedies do this job well in many commercial movies.

The Power of Context:

Our environments and social norms define what constitutes “Acceptable Behavior”. It becomes a very important factor to change from “being inclined to do something (unacceptable)” to “Not doing it”

To shape people’s behaviour, one can change the context & manage their social groups in an effort to create critical mass

This part is very relevant when we discuss social epidemics and we have all seen how the environment affected our behavior in Covid 19?

Rule of 150:

The Rule of 150 was coined by British Anthropologist, Robin Dunbar, and is defined as the “suggested cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships?and thus numbers larger than this generally require more restrictive rules, laws, and enforced norms

Groups bigger than 150 people tend to break into smaller groups in order to function.

This is very important when we plan to share something to the group whether at social events or in companies. It will always be good to limit the group size and create multiple groups to manage them well.

Adopter categories:

Innovators: These are people who want to be the first to try. They are very willing to take risks & are often the first to accept new ideas /changes.

Early Adopters: These are people who represent opinion leaders, who enjoy leadership roles & embrace change. They are already aware of the need to change and so are very comfortable adopting new ideas.

Early Majority: These people are rarely leaders, but they do adopt new ideas before the average person. They typically need to see evidence that the innovation works before they adopt it.

Late Majority: These people are skeptical of change, and adopt an innovation only after it has been tried by the majority.

Laggards: These people are bound by tradition & very conservative. They are very skeptical of change and are the hardest group to bring on board.

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Learnings:

1.?????Remember, the tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire.

2.?????People are heavily influenced by their surroundings, context, and the personalities of those around them. They can radically change with the right kind of impetus.

3.?????If you want to bring a fundamental change in people’s belief and behavior, you need to create a community around them, where those new beliefs can be practiced, expressed, and nurtured.

4.?????Once the idea is clear in your mind look for support system to propagate. That includes few “influential” people and change agents who will help moving it across various categories of adopters

5.?????Without stickiness, no idea will reach the threshold & tip. So, be clear on what may be of interest to target population and choose the right option to improve stickiness. It could simply be repetition, some distraction or anything else which will not change the original concept

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Do share the thoughts and experiences. Would be happy to learn more on this very interesting subject