#22 - The Tipping Point

A broken record, cracking it, and fine margins

Mar 28, 2021

My world has changed this week.

Last week it, was a stable, linear place. This week it’s a dynamic swirl of cascading events. This week I read The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.

Welcome new readers! If you’re reading this but haven’t subscribed you can subscribe here:

Broken Record

I’ve got tipping points on the mind. I found myself referencing it in virtually every call I’ve had this week. Every conversation has turned to tipping points.

The last time this happened was last year after reading Antifragile by Nassim Taleb. For weeks I bored friends and colleagues by explaining to them the fragility or anti-fragility of what they were proposing. Ben, in particular, has no need to read the book as he listened to my daily regurgitation. I’ve caught the same bug with The Tipping Point. Sorry in advance Ben.

The book proposes that viral sensations share a basic underlying pattern similar to an epidemic. They have tipping points. The tipping point is the point at which small changes add up to cause a larger, more significant change.

An example Gladwell gives is the midnight ride of Paul Revere in 1775 that sparked the American Revolution. Revere got wind of the British’s advance and hurried to warn the nearby towns. His message caught fire and to this day is heralded as the start of a revolution.

Another man, William Dawes, went on a similar ride that night. Dawes’ warning had nothing like the same effect, and as a result he’s a footnote in the history books. He didn’t reach a tipping point.

I’ve been shocked at how frequently tipping points show up. For example: I moved house this week. There’s a random cat that breaks into the new place each day (not sure how). He comes because he knows he’ll get a treat. Whilst he used to be an occasional trespasser, his break ins are now daily. Rather than giving him his treat and getting on with my life, I found myself pondering when the tipping point might have occurred that he made his break ins a daily habit. I’m losing the plot.

Cracking it

We’ve benefited from tipping points many times in our short Unplugged journey. None more so than with our initial bookings.

Month one, July, was tough. We offered the stays at half price to friends and family and still barely got a sniff. My sisters and two other charitable souls were the only takers. August was more of the same with only a spatter of random people from the internet to ease our worries. Then, in September, it tipped.

The month started slow and so we gave a stay to Gwilym Pugh, a friendly influencer. From that point on everything changed. The trickle turned into a stream. As the bookings poured in we had everyone from the Evening Standard to the Only Way is Essex getting in touch. We’ve been fully booked since.

I’m reflecting, as I write this, on why it’s relevant. So what? Is this just another topic for me to bore my newsletter readers with? Or is there a lesson to take forward? I see a lesson.

Fine Margins

It’s a lesson in where to focus, and in how to focus. Tipping points may be just around the corner.

The gyms are reopening in a couple of weeks and I have to say, I’m rather excited. Daily exercise is a game changer, and the online-classes-at-home scene is not one I’m buying. Despite my excitement now, I know how my return to the gym will go. It’ll be halfhearted. I’ll meekly lug around some weights for the first week or so, wondering what an earth I was so excited about. But, from experience, I know that the key is sticking with it. It doesn’t take a lot. A few weeks of effort and a tipping point is reached. It becomes fun. Essential, even.

Not everything takes weeks. In 2019 my drinking was a problem. Not in the getting-drunk-on-my-own kind of way. More the every-night-spirals-way-out-of-control kind of way. A social occasion in the calendar became a major point of anxiety- I knew what was coming. The tipping point came when I stumbled across this youtube video recommending Stop Drinking Now by Allen Carr. Giving up alcohol hadn’t even occurred to me- the idea was ludicrous. However, I was intrigued, I read the book and that was it. I tipped. I haven’t had a drop of alcohol since.

The opportunity is in recognising where the tipping points might be. With Unplugged- everything we need is out there. The land, the people, the money (nearly there), and the guests. The question is whether can find the tipping points.

Tipping points are often closer than we think. It could just be one push away.

My Week in Books📚

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

I’m sure you’ve heard quite enough from me on this. Not actually the most profound book in the world despite my above ravings. Nevertheless a wonderful lens for the world around us.

Manifesto by Dale Vince

Dale Vince is quite the character. Over the last three decades he’s pioneered the green energy movement in the UK. His projects span from building wind turbines to mining diamonds from the carbon in the air. Amazing.

Thanks Ben Keene for the recommendation.

I’ll be updating the books I’ve read this year here. Any recommendations? Let me know!