What do you mean, "Malcolm Gladwell's vaunted 'Tipping Point' model"? He was just expounding upon a thirty-year-old model created by Thomas Schelling (using a term coined, according to Wikipedia, by Morton Grodzins). Gladwell is a generally good writer, but let's give credit where it is due-- a popularizer of an idea is not the idea's creator.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tipping_Point