100 Great Business Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

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100 GREAT BUSINESS IDEAS • 83

of epidemics, as they communicate throughout different
“networks” of people. Masters of the “weak tie” (a friendly,
superfi cial connection) can spread ideas far.


  • Mavens—information specialists—also connect with people,
    but focus on the needs of others rather than on their own
    needs, and have the most to say. Examples of mavens include
    teachers.

  • Salespeople concentrate on the relationship, not the
    message. Their “sales” skills, with mastery of non-verbal
    communication and “motor mimicry” (imitating the person’s
    emotions and behavior to gain trust), afford them a pivotal
    role in persuading others.



  1. The stickiness factor. W i t h p r o d u c t s o r i d e a s , h o w a t t r a c t i v e t h e y a r e
    matters as much as how they are communicated in determining
    whether they spread. To reach a tipping point, ideas have to be
    compelling and “sticky.” (If something is unattractive, it will be
    rejected irrespective of how it is transmitted.) The information
    age has created a stickiness problem—the “clutter” of messages
    we face leads to products and ideas being ignored. To create
    epidemics, it is essential to make sure the message is not lost in
    this clutter, and to ensure the message is “sticky.”

  2. The power of context. Changes in the context of a message can
    tip an epidemic. Given that people’s circumstances, or context,
    matter as much as their character, a tipping point can be
    controlled by altering the environment they live in. This has
    many implications for businesses, from employee performance
    to generating sales.


An example of the tipping point is “broken windows theory.”
One person, seeing a single broken window, may believe there
is an absence of control and authority, making them more likely
to commit crimes. In this way, small crimes invite more serious

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