I am at present travelling in the US and over the years, I have made it a habit, when travelling, to always pick up a book from the various airports that I go through. The book that I picked up this time is one that came out around 2000 by Malcolm Gladwell called "The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference." Basically, the author is saying that when something becomes an epidemic, there are three rules that are in play:
1. The Law of the Few.
2. The Stickiness Factor.
3. The Power of Context.
I will not outline them for you as I think it is worth buying the book and reading it.
But I would like to talk about one thing that he mentions in what he calls the stickiness factor. He talks about an experiment that social psychologist Howard Levanthal conducted in the 1960s. Basically he wanted to see if he could persuade a group of college seniors from Yale University to get the tetanus shot. He divided them into separate groups and gave them a 7-page booklet that explained the dangers of tetanus and the importance of inoculation and the fact that the university was offering free tetanus shots at the campus health center to all those who were interested. But the booklets came in several versions, ranging from high fear version to a low fear version. The high fear versions had dramatic color photographs of a child having a tetanus seizure, victims with a urinary catheter, tracheostomy wounds and nasal tubes and all of that. At the other end of the spectrum was the low fear version, which only verbally described the risks of tetanus without photographs – totally toned down.
Levanthal wanted to see what the impact the different booklets had on the students' attitude towards tetanus and the likelihood of getting a shot. Well, as you would guess, the results were predictable in some ways. They found that those who received the high fear booklet were more convinced of the dangers of tetanus and the importance of shots and more likely to say that they would get inoculated than those who got the low fear booklets. That was what came out in a questionnaire that they did after the experiment. But, one month after the experiment, only a mere 3% actually went to the health center to get inoculated. For some reason, the students had forgotten everything that they had learnt about tetanus and the lessons that they were told were not translated into actions. So the experiment didn't stick.
Here's the interesting thing! Leventhal didn't leave it like that. He decided to try something else: What was the reason behind that? So they repeated the entire experiment but this time, in the booklets, they put a map with directions to the health center and the timings when the tetanus shots were available. Immediately there was a 28% increase in the number of people who went to get the tetanus shot. It had no bearing on whether it was a high-risk or a low-risk push in the booklets.
That was very interesting! It was almost like the last mile that the IT industry has in bringing the Internet into homes. It is so important for us to be able to know exactly what we want to get out of a particular situation. It comes more easily to us when it comes in our work places. The companies we work for expect us to do the job we were hired for. The last mile for getting a particular product into the consumer's hand is something that you have to do or you are fired or you lose your increment.
But it also made me think about other issues of life. I remember watching an episode of 'West Wing' where they were talking about getting medications into Africa and how expensive it was and why were drug companies charging so much. Finally one of them said, "It really does not matter. Even if we get it in cheaply, it's not going to help." On being quizzed further, it was found that these medications were time-bound. They had to be given every 3 hours and if it wasn't, then it was of no use. In many of the places where the AIDS virus was endemic, they didn't have watches and couldn't tell the time. So getting the medication there itself, was of no use. Ultimately it wouldn't help the people.
That made me really think about our own lives. What is it that we really want to do with our lives? Thinking about it personally, I felt it was like writing a letter. I know that we don't write too many letters or use the post today, but it makes a point. When I get a thought or think of somebody, than I want to put my thoughts down on paper. I take that paper, find an envelope and put stamps, mail it in the post office. It goes to the particular post office where this person stays, but if that letter is not delivered by the postman, then all that I have done is of no use. Seven out of eight actions were done correctly; the eighth wasn't fulfilled which nullified and neutralized all the other seven.
That made me ask the question: Are we making sure that the one-eighth of our lives that really count is being fulfilled? Or are our lives being filled with seven-eighths of stuff that help a lot of other people but don't achieve our own objectives. That's food for thought! Is that one-eight, the last mile happening, not in terms of our companies, but in terms of our own personal lives?
Our Holy Scriptures asks a very pertinent question: "What will it profit a man or a woman if he/she should gain the whole world yet lost his soul?" That's a one-eighth question. You can take it and ask it of yourself. What's the one-eighth question in your own life? What is important for you? Is it happening or are you contributing to seven-eighths of it, which is helping a whole lot of other people but not helping yourself?
That's my poser for you and me today, to take a look at our lives and ask the question: Are we really doing what we need to do? I always liken it to getting all the information that we can about Paracetamol (Crocin) and how it can alleviate pain and headaches. Yet if we fail to take that tablet, we still have the headache. Sometimes our lives get wrapped around like that. We do a lot of things, we gain a lot of knowledge, but the application of that knowledge is not happening. That's the one-eighth quotient, I believe, in my life and in yours. Maybe today is a good day to ask the question: Am I fulfilling what is it that I want to fulfill in my life? The reason that I was placed here on earth – is that being fulfilled? That's a good thing to wrap our minds around and I hope you will.
May I pray with you this morning? Almighty God. For each one on this call, give us wisdom, to ask not only the hard questions but to act on the answers that we get. That at the end of our days, we can look at our life every day and know that we have achieved the reason or fulfilled our presence here on this earth. I pray for wisdom for each one on this call. May they have a wonderful day. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
• Malcolm Gladwell, "The Tipping Point." BackBay Books/Little, Brown and Company, @2000
• Psychologist Howard Levanthal's experiment at Yale University. Pgs 96-98
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