‘The Tipping Point’

Six months after Garci said "Hello" – he’s back. And I thought all along it was "Goodbye Garci." Some were even saying that he had already started to count the stars six feet under. I guess they were wrong – because he’s back. The problem is, watching him on television makes us all look like fools. He is trying to spin everybody around his tale. So people wouldn’t know anymore what is true and what is not.

I’ve been reading the best seller The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell and this is a book that could apply to all of us. Gladwell asserted that little things can snowball and make a big difference. Messages, ideas or behavior can spread like an infection and have the potential to create major changes in society that could dramatically affect the way people live. Let me make it clear, these social – not biological – "viruses" are contagious. At times, they silently infect populations until they reach epidemic proportions – which Gladwell describes as "that one dramatic moment in an epidemic when everything can change all at once" — or what he calls "the tipping point."

The Tipping Point is a simple idea. As Gladwell explained, "It is that best way to understand the emergence of trends, the phenomena of word of mouth, or any number of the mysterious changes that mark everyday life is to think of them as epidemics. Ideas, products, messages, and behaviors spread just like viruses do… This possibility of sudden change is at the center of the idea of the Tipping Point and might well be the hardest of all to accept… The theory of the Tipping Point requires, however, that we reframe the way we think about the world. We have trouble estimating dramatic, exponential change." But it is possible, if only we learn to appreciate our blessings and leverage them. We only have to look.

Despite "Garci the clown", the victory of the Philippines in the just-concluded 23rd Southeast Asian Games has given a renewed sense of pride to the people of this country. This is a clear case of success having been achieved because everyone did their part. As much as the athletes, credit should also be given to SEA Games Organizing Committee CEO and POC president Peping Cojuangco Jr. and of course the First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, who initiated efforts to raise funds for the training and other needs of the athletes from corporate giants like San Miguel and PLDT. Things can be done if we start making the right kind of changes. This could be a tipping point. Gladwell’s book is an adventure that presents a roadmap for change. Change begins with us and in our readiness to look beyond the present. One has to be ready to adapt to new ideas and systems, particularly if the present ones don’t seem to work. I am not a constitutional expert, but perhaps people should start looking at the possibility that Charter Change could get the country out of the political quagmire we’re in today.

A bad system can in fact make you corrupt. To illustrate my point, I tried to apply for the renewal of my driver’s license the right way. My license had expired, and they told me that it would take me a minimum of one hour to renew, going through a drug test and everything that went into the whole process. First of all, I went to the wrong agency. They told me I had to go to the central agency located at the coastal area. I wasn’t really surprised to discover that there were still a lot of fixers. After all was said and done, I had to wait close to four hours or more and because of that I was sorely tempted to give the P1,500 to P2,000 that would have expedited the processing of my license. This is what I mean when I say that the system has failed. A system that doesn’t work can force you to be an accomplice to corruption.

Be that as it may, as Gladwell pointed out, a few people can make an idea or belief spread. One person with enough drive and imagination can move the world – a leader who can inspire people into believing that such changes are possible. "The Law of the Few says that there are exceptional people out there who are capable of starting epidemics." As for a unifying message that can galvanize the nation, "There is a simple way to package information that, under the right circumstances, can make it irresistible. All you have to do is find it," stressed Gladwell

With regard to reforming institutions like the Comelec and other dysfunctional systems, the book mentioned the Broken Windows theory and the Power of Context, which are actually one and the same. "They are both based on the premise that an epidemic can be reversed, can be tipped, by tinkering with the smallest details of the immediate environment… Once you understand that context matters, however, that specific and relatively small elements in the environment can serve as Tipping Points, that defeatism is turned upside down. Environmental Tipping Points are things that we can change: we can fix broken windows and clean up graffiti and change the signals that invite crime in the first place. Crime can be more than understood. It can be prevented."

This country is at its tipping point. The new year is just around the bend. Perhaps we can have a new beginning. But more importantly, it could be our tipping point. It will be an opportunity to see if we can tip the scales in our favor or just keel over – because if that happens – then we go into a free fall. This time there will be no safety net.

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