<![CDATA[REBOXU.COM - CLASSICS]]>Mon, 15 Aug 2022 01:13:39 -0400Weebly<![CDATA[The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference]]>Tue, 22 Nov 2016 23:25:06 GMThttps://www.reboxu.com/classics/the-tipping-point-how-little-things-can-make-a-big-difference
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​The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Malcolm Gladwell explores and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, is already changing the way people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas.

Gladwell introduces us to the particular personality types who are natural pollinators of new ideas and trends, the people who create the phenomenon of word of mouth. He analyzes fashion trends, smoking, children's television, direct mail, and the early days of the American Revolution for clues about making ideas infectious, and visits a religious commune, a successful high-tech company, and one of the world's greatest salesmen to show how to start and sustain social epidemics.
"When we say that a handful of East Village kids started the Hush Puppies epidemic, or that the scattering of the residents of a few housing projects was sufficient to start Baltimore's syphilis epidemic, what we are really saying is that in a given process or system some people matter more than others. This is not, on the face of it, a particularly radical notion. Economists often talk about the 80/20 Principle, which is the idea that in any situation roughly 80 percent of the 'work' will be done by 20 percent of the participants. In most societies, 20 percent of criminals commit 80 percent of crimes. Twenty percent of motorists cause 80 percent of all accidents. Twenty percent of beer drinkers drink 80 percent of all beer. When it comes to epidemics, though, this disproportionality becomes even more extreme: a tiny percentage of people do the majority of the work."-- from the first chapter of 'The Tipping Point'
MORE BY AND ABOUT THIS AUTHOR
The premise of this facile piece of pop sociology has built-in appeal: little changes can have big effects; when small numbers of people start behaving differently, that behavior can ripple outward until a critical mass or ""tipping point"" is reached, changing the world. Gladwell's thesis that ideas, products, messages and behaviors ""spread just like viruses do"" remains a metaphor as he follows the growth of ""word-of-mouth epidemics"" triggered with the help of three pivotal types. These are Connectors, sociable personalities who bring people together; Mavens, who like to pass along knowledge; and Salesmen, adept at persuading the unenlightened. (Paul Revere, for example, was a Maven and a Connector). Gladwell's applications of his ""tipping point"" concept to current phenomena--such as the drop in violent crime in New York, the rebirth of Hush Puppies suede shoes as a suburban mall favorite, teenage suicide patterns and the efficiency of small work units--may arouse controversy. For example, many parents may be alarmed at his advice on drugs: since teenagers' experimentation with drugs, including cocaine, seldom leads to hardcore use, he contends, ""We have to stop fighting this kind of experimentation. We have to accept it and even embrace it."" While it offers a smorgasbord of intriguing snippets summarizing research on topics such as conversational patterns, infants' crib talk, judging other people's character, cheating habits in schoolchildren, memory sharing among families or couples, and the dehumanizing effects of prisons, this volume betrays its roots as a series of articles for the New Yorker, where Gladwell is a staff writer: his trendy material feels bloated and insubstantial in book form. Agent, Tina Bennett of Janklow & Nesbit. Major ad/promo. 
]]><![CDATA[Rich DaD & Poor Dad ]]>Tue, 08 Nov 2016 16:59:19 GMThttps://www.reboxu.com/classics/rich-dad-poor-dad
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​Personal finance author and lecturer Robert T. Kiyosaki developed his unique economic perspective from two very different influences - his two fathers.

One father (Robert's real father) was a highly educated man but fiscally poor. The other father was the father of Robert's best friend - that Dad was an eighth-grade drop-out who became a self-made multi-millionaire. The lifelong monetary problems experienced by his poor dad pounded home the counterpoint communicated by his rich dad. Taking that message to heart,

​Kiyosaki was able to retire at 47.
One said: "I can't afford it", the other "how can I afford it?". One is statement, the other question which forces you to think. If you say I can't afford it , your brain stops. If however you say/ask "How can I afford it" you force your brain to think ​---- Robert ​Kiyosaki
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​​I keep Hearing, 'I'd rather be happy then rich.' Why not be both ? ---- Robert ​Kiyosaki
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​Full Readers Review
​My Poor Dad asked me what job I wanted when I grow up. My Rich Dad asked me what quadrant I wanted to be in. ---- Robert ​Kiyosaki
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​The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire; the size of your dream; and how you handle disappointment along the way ---- Robert ​Kiyosaki
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