by Tom Fels (@thomasfels) A “tipping point” is described by originator Malcolm Gladwell as “that magic moment when an Idea, trend, or social behaviour crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire”. We’ve all borne witness to this phenomenon in our lifetime, never more so than now.
Understanding how movements or trends gain momentum and take hold in society is a powerful enabler, because it allows us to play an active role in shaping the change we want, and short-circuiting that which we don’t. Taking this even further — knowing that, beyond a tipping point, things may never be the same again — prompts us to think about coming, inevitable trends and how we can be at the forefront of shaping our relevance for the future moment.
Three key factors
After widescale research across sectors, Gladwell identified three common traits of trends that gain mass adoption. These concepts are described as the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context:
- The Law of the Few contends that, for an idea to ‘catch fire’, it needs to be endorsed and advocated for by opinion leaders and disseminators described as connectors, mavens and salespeople. This is intuitive as the power of a networked idea creates the scale for it to touch and convert more people.
- The Stickiness Factor is essentially the capacity of the idea to stay alive and capture sustained, scaled attention. Sometimes, ideas may take a long time to tip, or it can happen overnight.
- This brings us to the Power of Context — which is like tinder to the fire. Given the right community, business or technical conditions, an idea may spring to life by meeting unidentified, unexpressed or suppressed needs. Context is the framework within which change finds its feet.
To see it coming
While we often consider the “tipping point” as a catalytic moment where the unexpected occurs and we’re thrust into a new paradigm, the reality is that many tipping points are so slow, it’s hard to see them coming.
Science has proven that global warming is happening yet the changes to our daily lives are imperceptibly slow. Only when hit by a hurricane, wildfire or sustained drought does the message hit home. The same goes for generations of suppressive racial, gender and social inequality. All it takes is the right match to ignite an inferno of change.
A call to lead
By and large, we don’t know what the future holds. Yet there are some inescapable truths about how our business and social systems have created a situation where we face widespread and necessary reformative actions.
Leaders who’re awake to these needs will, I trust, see them for what they are: indicators that we’re approaching, and experiencing, moments beyond which we will never be the same again. As a result, they will shape the organisations and initiatives that will determine the future of society.
The warning we should all take heed of is that we don’t need to wait for the tipping point of inevitability itself — be it via a civil war, irretractable damage to our natural ecosystem or political radicalisation — we can start with what we have and what we know to be true and good, right here, right now.
See also
- Columns | Mission – Tom Fels
- #OpenForBusiness — Radar
- #CoronavirusSA — Radar
- #CoronavirusSA – Special Section
Tom Fels (@thomasfels) is a mission-driven brand expert, keynote speaker and an evangelist for conscious business. He’s just launched Animarem, a boutique impact advisory that guides and powers the shift toward conscious business. More recently, he was CEO at Singita and Nurun and group MD of Publicis Machine (now Machine_), where he oversaw local and global award-winning communications, digital and hospitality businesses. A past MarkLives.com contributor, his new monthly column, “Mission”, motivates for a more-conscious approach to business and intends to inspire change.
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