“The tipping point is an expression used in epidemiology that was taken by Malcolm Gladwell, a New York Times writer, and applied to other areas of life—including business—in his 2000 book “The Tipping Point”. The subtitle, “How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference”, explains more clearly what the whole thing is about.
In epidemiology the tipping point is that moment when a small change tips the balance of a system and brings about a large change; for example, when the normal spread of influenza throughout a population suddenly turns into an epidemic. In recent years the language of epidemiology has spread (like a virus?) within business. Managers talk about viral marketing (see article), the infectious enthusiasm of their teams, and “outbreaks” of corporate greed—and even, as was reported once about JetBlue, an American low-cost airline, an “outbreak of passenger abuse”. A lot of this language owes its spread to the influence of the internet, where viruses are common and where dormant information can sometimes erupt suddenly and infect us all.” – Economics
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