More tipping point

I don’t think I’ve "tipped" on the tipping point.  My general impression of the book "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell were that there might be something there but it is a hammer (to a man with a hammer the whole world is a nail).   Practical applications are in hindsight easy to identify.  There is no crystal ball that can identify when a tipping point is coming.

The first part of the book was more interesting and the second half was a re-stating of the first half.  — reminded me of a Harvey saying, "Most books would make a great magazine article."

The concept of the Band-aid solution in the concluding chapter has reset my thinking a bit.  Band-aids are good for what they are intended for.  Our challenge in systems is that band-aids become permanent because there is no – to extend the metaphor – underlying healing processes that makes the band-aid unnecessary.  Time heals all wounds, but time alone will not fix a broken system.

My opinions:  Global warming has reached or is reaching a tipping point.  On the weekend I heard a report on the CBC about the tobacco growing industry being in crisis in SouthWestern Ontario.  At the same time there is a "Green Energy Advert" for British Petroleum (BP) extolling the benefits of growing Sugar Beets as an alternate fuel source.  The connection for me being the two plants need similar growing conditions. As the demand for tobacco drops the demand for Sugar beets increases.

At the same time, I’m NOT suggesting you buy futures contracts in Sugar Beets just yet.

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What’s the difference between a Canoe and a Canadian?

Canoes tip.

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In our lexicon we now have at least three definitions for "tipping"

  1. Jim Reply

    I think you are right about Global Warming. An Alaskan Senator who was all for drilling in the north for oil and pooh pooh global warming has done an about face. I think with the melting permafrost in Alaska and the peat bogs in Siberia releasing CO2 and Methane has help convince him.
    I have found that my thinking has changed since I read the book. I am aware of the Law of the Few and the Power of Context.
    A comment about the second half of the book is that the band-aid comment is in the second half. If you read only the first half you would have missed that.
    I do not think it has tipped my thinking but it certainly has tilted it. We need to find band-aids that promote healing of the programming problems.

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