From 1987 to 1996, Malcom Gladwell was a reporter for The Washington Post, first as a science writer and then as New York City bureau chief. Since 1996, he has been a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine, where he works today (when not writing his next book on “Intuition,” due in 2004).

The Tipping Point is, in Gladwell’s own words, an “intellectual adventure story.” Drawing from psychology, sociology and epidemiology, using examples from the worlds of business, society, education, fashion and media, the book shows people how to start “positive epidemics” of their own. “The virtue of an epidemic, after all,” Gladwell points out, “is that just a little input is enough to get it started, and it can spread very, very quickly.” That makes it something of obvious interest to everyone building a networking business.

Malcolm, for readers who aren't familiar with the term, can you explain what “the tipping point” is?

“The tipping point” is a phrase borrowed from epidemiology. It refers to the concept that small changes will have little or no effect on a system until a critical mass is reached. At that point, a further small change “tips” the system—and a large effect is observed.

This is the critical moment when an epidemic explodes: it seems to happen all at once. I think that is a much better description of the way change happens than our common notion—that change is somethin ... Members have full access to this article. Become a member now using the links above.