When did the Beatles pass the Tipping Point?  According to Seth Godin, never.  It happened gradually; there was no Tipping Point (Funny, but Malcolm Gladwell is going to be at Webmasterworld in a couple of weeks ….hmm… now if I could get to interview him……wish on Marshall).

One of the most misunderstood and misused phrases in marketing (okay, in business) is Malcolm Gladwell’s, "the tipping point." The Beatles didn’t tip. Nothing magical happened. Instead, gradually, they shifted from being the chasers into being the chased.

These were the Beatles on Ed Sullivan and the Beatles on tour and the Beatles making wigs and the Beatles making movies and pioneering music videos. It was the Beatles in a frenzy, not sure what was going to come next, but pretty sure that it could all disappear in a heartbeat.

Many organizations reach this stage and stop. They harvest. They take profits and remind themselves that they are geniuses, all powerful and immune to the laws of boredom.

Only by pushing through this stage and by using their newfound power to create the last stage of their career did the Beatles actually become the Beatles.

When we rewrite history (and we do it every day) it’s easy to imagine that Starbucks and JetBlue and all the other poster children for new successes just got blessed. It’s almost never the case, though. It’s just that it’s easier to think of them as winners.

So, is Seth saying…."we re-write history" or is he saying "there is no Tipping Point" or is he saying both things?  Seth?