The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

This book was actually recommended to me by a friend who said that it helped her understand marketing better.  Being interested in how to market my law practice I decided to give it a read.  While I am not disappointed at reading the book, I think labeling this book marketing advice was a misnomer.

One of the basic underlying theories is that the small things make the big difference in a trend catching on.  It is even in the title.  Baby steps are what starts the change, and small factors help the change stick, and a small group of people are what help the trend get started and spread.  Gladwell calls the three factors that are needed Law of the Few, The Stickiness Factor, and Power of Context.

There are 3 different types of people that are needed to get a word of mouth epidemic or trend to start, stick, and spread.  It is interesting to read about the qualities that Gladwell labels these types of people - Connectors, Mavens, and Salesman.  

This is clearly a very simplified version of what the book is about, but that is because for more details you should read the book.  I would not classify it as a marketing book, but it does address marketing in broader context. The author claims that you need to change the way the reader views the world, I think this is only partially true.  The reader will understand marketing better and understand how trends and epidemics start and catch fire, but there is no step-by-step guide on how to make it happen.  Honestly, there could not be a step-by-step guide and reading the book will help you see why.  The fact that trends and epidemics reach nation and worldwide levels shows how much careful detail and planning goes into it and then you still need the right combination of factors and right combination of people to make it spread like wildfire.

This was a great read, and I would recommend it for anyone who is interested in sociology.

Book Rating: 4 books out of 5

Suggested Reading

Last Apprentice: Attack of the Fiend (book 4) by Joseph Delaney

Characters:

Tom: a seventh son of a seventh son, the Spook's apprentice

Alice: a witch, friend of Tom, lives with Tom and the Spook

Spook/Mr. Gregory: gets rid of witches and other problems in the country

Jack: Tom's brother

Ellie: Jack's wife

Mary: Jack and Ellie's daughter
James: Tom's brother, a blacksmith

Andrew: Spook's brother

Father Stocks: friend of the Spook's, prior apprentice, and a priest in Downham

Mother Malkin: witch and relative of Alice

Bony Lizzie: witch, relative of Alice, took care of Alice

Mab: witch from Pendle

Jennet: one of Mab's younger sisters

Beth: Jenner's twin sister

Roger Nowell: magistrate, former high sheriff of Caster, does not believe in witches

Mistress Wirmalde: housekeeper to Roger Nowell, a witch

Tibb: creature created by two of the witch clans in Pendle

Grimalkin: cruel assassin the Malkin sometimes use, skilled with a long blade
Fiend: Nick, the evil one, the devil, darkness

Book Review/Summary:

This series just keeps growing in depth, characters, and draws the reader in.  As the characters continue to develop and Tom gains experiences the reader grows more attached to them.  Alice yet again proved she could push back the "bad" witch aspect of her family and put Tom ahead of them.  Tom's family was hurt and she willingly went to Pendle to see her family to protect them and help Tom free them.  Afterwards, she helped heal Jack and worked with the Spook and Tom to try and stop the Fiend.  The adventures in the Malkin Tower showed how well these two can work as a team, especially without the Spook around for guidance.  The Spook was missing for most of this book, as Tom worked with Father Stocks and had to use his internal guidance to decide what to do when things went south.
Tom is coming into his own as a Spook, and at the same time learning more about his mother.  Tom realizes that his mom was a lamias, and meets his 'aunts' who it is hinted at will make an appearance later in the series.  Tom's family is highlighted in this book, and the distance and gap that has formed while still remaining close because of kinship is a delicate line that Tom is learning how to navigate.
Tom was told of a prophecy from Tibb, that he questions at the end of the book.
Mab is an interesting character, who could easily start to be a rival for Alice.  She is smitten with Tom from the start and tries to claim him.  When that doesn't work she strikes a deal with Tom and appears to keep her end of the agreement.  As Tom is running for his life, she warns him of the dangers ahead and claims she loved him.  I predict Mab will come into play in other books in the series.  Mab clearly seems to be a 'bad' witch, but there is something about how she interacted with Tom that makes me question if she could form another alliance with Tom.
The book ends with Tom's life being in danger from several dark forces, and the possibility of being forced to fight in a war.  However, it also looks like the Spook will have Tom apprentice with a Spook further North to avoid being forced to fight.  This sounds like it will happen in the next book, and if not then it would be book after that.  It will be interesting to see how a different Spook trains Tom and what Tom is like without Mr. Gregory being his Spook.
"I see a girl, soon to be a woman.  The girl who will share your life.  She will love you, she will betray you, and she will die for you." (Chapter X) Tom questions if it is Mab who claims she loved him or Alice who he is growing close to.  I also question if it could be Tom's mother or niece.  Tom's mom is a lamias, and she can remain youthful or change back to a young woman.  The only reason I am dismissing this is because I don't think Tom's mother would betray him and this prophecy seems to indicate a romantic love.  This is also why I am dismissing it as not being a family.  However, book four in a series of at least twelve books means that another girl who is about to be a woman could be who this prophecy is about.  It is best to keep an open mind about who this girl is, but the front-runner is Alice.

Book Rating:
5 out of 5 books.

Suggested Reading:
     
     
     

The Trolley Problem by Thomas Cathcart

This book is small, but a fun read.  It is great book to keep handy and read while you are waiting.  If for no other reason than you can sound smart discussing the theories of Immanuel Kant, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Intelligent Design to name a few.  The concept is simple - the basic problem of if you see a runaway train and it is about to hit 5 people and kill them, but you can flip the switch and divert the train to a different track but it would hit and kill one man, there is no time to warn any of the men on the track.  Do you flip the switch and let the train hit one man or let the train stay on the current track and hit 5 men.

The author took the approach of trying the case in the court of public opinion and the reader hears a side for and a side against flipping the switch.  Then you read about different reasons why people justify the decisions they make on if they would flip the switch or find the person who did guilty of a crime.

Overall, it was an interesting read.  At only point the methods being used to show arguments made me think this should be required reading for law school students, so they could help make effective arguments when presenting their side.  However, the methodology was superficial in coverage, as would be expected for a book of this length, so it may not be as beneficial as I thought.

Book Rating:

3 Books out of 5 Books.

I would have given it more, but it was superficial in coverage of all topics covered.  Enough to get you a basic knowledge, but not enough to fully support or disregard the theories.

Recommended Reading: