Tipping Point

In business tipping point is best thought of as an epidemic. What happens in a business epidemic? Is when a large portion of the population is affected by organizations change (Gladwell, 2002). The change is dramatic not gradual when the change happens. Epidemiologists call that moment when change explodes the tipping point, the critical mass or boiling point moment when a single straw breaks the proverbial camel’s back and everything changes forever (Gladwell, 2002). Rules are needed to change business epidemics.

Gladwell (2002) had three rules that were crucial to understanding and initiating change. First, the Law of the Few: Some people have far more capacity and power to initiate change than others – the messenger does matter (Gladwell, 2002). Second, Stickiness: the idea the messenger is pushing to motivate change has to be a grabber – memorable and powerful enough to spark and sustain action (Gladwell, 2002). Third, the Power of Context: the messenger and the message have to suit the circumstances and conditions of the moment (Gladwell, 2002). Following these rules are crucial to understanding how communications took effect in this organization.

The virtue of an epidemic, after all, is that just a little input is enough to get it started, and it can spread very quickly (Gladwell, 2002). That makes it something of obvious and enormous interest to everyone from educators trying to reach students, to businesses trying to spread the word about their product, or for that matter to anyone who is trying to create a change with limited resources (Gladwell, 2002). No matter what entity it may be. It takes very little input to get epidemic started.

Business executive want to start a whole bunch of epidemics: an epidemic of product buying; an epidemic of consumer and shareholder satisfaction; an epidemic of product quality; an epidemic of innovation; an epidemic of productivity; an epidemic of employee motivation; an epidemic of honesty, integrity and trust;...