Made To Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive And Others Die (2007) - Plot & Excerpts
MADE TO STICK – Chip and Dan HeathSUCCESSimple – Unexpected – Concrete – Contextual – Emotional – StoriesStep-by-directions, how to achieve stickiness“Those are the six principles of successful ideas. To summarize, here’s our checklist for creating a successful idea: a Simple Unexpected Concrete Credentialed Emotional Story. A clever observer will note that this sentence can be compacted into the acronym SUCCESs. This is sheer coincidence, of course. (Okay, we admit, SUCCESs is a little corny. We could have changed ‘Simple’ to ‘Core’ and reordered a few letters. But, you have to admit, CCUCES is less memorable.)” (pg. 18)Understanding how connections can be wired between ideas and people – between your ideas and the people you hope will be struck by them. The expert "wants to talk about chess strategies, not about bishops moving diagonally." It's the showing, not the telling. The stickest most important lesson: They know that with ideas it's not the telling but the showing that counts, so they've filled their book with stories that illustrate their theories.“Stickiness means that a message makes an impact. You can't get it out of your head. It sticks in your memory."What makes some ideas famous? They came up with 6 common themes that super hit ideas share. These 6 themes allow anyone to reverse engineer their ideas and make them more sticky. More pass-able.1. SIMPLE = CORE + COMPACT - Like a proverb. Short, but meaningful. Simplicity: the idea must be stripped to its core idea, the touchstone, and the most important benefits of the touchstone should jump out. “A writer knows they have achieved perfection not when they can think of nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away without losing the essence of the idea. The CORE! “It’s hard to make ideas stick in a noisy, unpredictable, chaotic environment. If we’re to succeed, the first step is this: Be simple. Not simple in terms of ‘dumbing down’ or ‘sound bites.’ What we mean by ‘simple’ is finding the core of the idea. ‘Finding the core’ means stripping an idea down to its most critical essence.” (pgs. 27, 28)2. UNEXPECTED - The twist in the story makes it memorable. Break peoples usual patterns of perception , feelings and the actions that result from those perceptions and feelings based in past, present, future. Unexpectedness: the idea must destroy preconceived notions about something. This forces people to stop, think, and remember. “If we are to motivate people to pay attention, we should seize the power of big suprises, curiosity” Capture and Hold Attention – We have 3 seconds to capture attention. Create mystery by pointing out a knowledge gap, tease with information. “The gap theory" of curiosity. This is the notion that a gap in knowledge is painful – it's like having an itch that needs to be scratched. It's also the reason that murder mysteries, crossword puzzles, sport contests, and even Pokémon succeed in grabbing attention: An audience is challenged to predict an outcome and then left wondering, "What will happen?" and "Was I right?" We need to first open gaps before we close them. Most often, the communicator's tendency is "to tell people the facts. First, though, the recipient of the message must realize that they need these facts." “The most basic way to get someone’s attention is this: Break a pattern. Humans adapt incredibly quickly to consistent patterns. Figure out what is counterintuitive about the message—i.e., What are the unexpected implications of your core message? Communicate your message in a way that breaks your audiences’ guessing machines.” (pgs. 64, 72)3. CONCRETE - As opposed to abstract. Visible in real life experiences. Concreteness: avoid statistics, use real-world analogies to help people understand complex ideas. Help people understand and remember from the their past and present experience. Use the Velco Theory of memory. The more memory hooks you give them to attach your ideas to their past and present experience. Make them experience your ideas in the past present and the possibilities of the future. Help them bring their knowledge to the idea. “Abstraction makes it harder to understand an idea and to remember it. It also makes it harder to coordinate our activities with others, who may interpret the abstraction in very different ways. Concreteness helps us avoid these problems.” (pg. 100) Use analogies. Parallels. Metaphors. Pictures. Tangible ideas makes it easy for people to understand remember your blog posts.4. CREDIBLE - Must be believable. Credibility: if people don't trust you, they'll ignore you. In some cases, they will be openly hostile, which means they'll actively try to dispute your message! Help people believe by using authority and anti-authority figures, institutions, ideas. Honesty and trustworthiness matter!!! Internal Credibility: What they know from their own past and present experiences. Thoughts and Emotions, Results, Actions. External Credibility – Statistics. “How do we get people to believe our ideas? We’ve got to find a source of credibility to draw on. A person’s knowledge of details is often a good proxy for her expertise. Think of how a history buff can quickly establish her credibility by telling an interesting Civil War anecdote. But concrete details don’t just lend credibility to the authorities who provide them; they lend credibility to the idea itself.” (pgs. 138, 163) Give specific details and quote experts to make your post credible. Add testimonials and show the number of people who comment on your blog to make your blog seem credible. Improve your crediblity and people will believe in you - and agree with you more often.5. EMOTIONS - Emotions: information makes people think, but emotion makes them act. Appeal to emotional needs, sometimes even way up on Maslow's hierarchy. Internal Emotions: What they know from their own past and present experiences. What kind of Emotions do they draw from this. What kind emotions do they want for the Future? Take the benefits and apply them to their Self Interest. What do they want to avoid and what do they want to gain? Engage what they want to feel, visualize, experience. Thoughts and Emotions, Results, Actions. “How can we make people care about our ideas? We get them to take off their Analytical Hats. We create empathy for specific individuals. We show how our ideas are associated with things that people already care about. We appeal to their self-interest, but we also appeal to their identities—not only to the people they are right now but also to the people they would like to be.” (pg. 203) One easy trick to touch people’s hearts is writing for one single person. Use a lot of “You” in your blog posts. Use powerful words and phrases instead of weaker overused cliches.6. STORIES - Providing inspiration to towards ideas or away from ideas and simulation of how a person can see themselves doing the same thing. Stories: telling a story [gets] people into paying closer attention, and feeling more connected. Remember the Jared Subway commercials? Get people to ACT. Take ACTION. Stories are a Simulation, a plan which they can see, feel themselves in doing the same thing. Stories about the future and the possibilities. “A story is powerful because it provides the context missing from abstract prose. This is the role that stories play—putting knowledge into a framework that is more lifelike, more true to our day-to-day existence. Stories are almost always CONCRETE. Most of them have EMOTIONAL and UNEXPECTED elements. The hardest part of using stories effectively is make sure they’re SIMPLE—that they reflect your core message. It’s not enough to tell a great story; the story has to reflect your agenda.” (pgs. 214, 237) Tell stories and anecdotes to make your point. People will forget theory. But they won’t forget stories that convey the same message as those theories. Stories are a powerful means to make people take action.create a mystery, curiosity, make us aware of a gap in our knowledgeFLOW OF ENERGY – (TEAR) THOUGHT-EMOTION-ACTION-RESULTSThe mind is contaminated by emotions, moods, desires, goals, and simple self-interest....
An informative and entertaining guide to making ideas “sticky” (interesting and memorable). It presents six principles and explains them with plenty of specific examples and comparisons of “sticky” and “non-sticky” ideas. Its lessons are applicable whether your ideas will be used in marketing and advertising a business or in spreading the mission of a nonprofit.One of the themes of the book is overcoming the “curse of knowledge,” which is when you’re so familiar with your mission/product/service that you can’t see things from the perspective of those who aren’t familiar, and can’t express yourself to “outsiders.”I read it primarily to improve the marketing of my web design business, OptimWise, but also seeking concepts to use for our clients, and in my volunteer work for various nonprofits.I had heard about this book from several sources, and finally decided to read it when Daniel Pink recommended it in To Sell is Human. The audiobook narrated by Charles Kahlenberg is of excellent quality.Notes“The test of our success as idea creators isn’t whether people mimic our exact words, it’s whether we achieve our goals.”Step 1: Find the core of the idea.Step 2: Translate the core using the SUCCES checklist.6 Principles of Successful Ideas (SUCCES checklist)t• Simplet• Unexpectedt• Concretet• Credentialedt• Emotionalt• StorySimplet• The core should have profound compactness, like a proverb.t• Use analogies and metaphors.t• “A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” - Antoine de Saint-ExuperyUnexpectedt• Break a pattern.t• Present a mystery to pique curiosity.ConcreteTo solve problems, you need a common “language.” It needs to be concrete, not abstract.Credentialedt• Concrete details add credibility.t• Use endorsements from authorities and non-authorities (average people).t• Stats add credibility. Use them to show relationships, not for absolute numbers.t• Use the “Sinatra test”: “if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.” Give one notable, concrete example to prove your credibility.t• Use testable credentials: ask the audience, “see for yourself.”Emotional“If I look at the mass, I will never act. If I look at the one, I will.” Mother TheresaHow can we make people care about our ideas?t• Get them to take off their analytical hats.t• Create empathy for specific individuals.t• Show how our ideas are associated with things people already care about.t• Appeal to self-interest. Example: John Caples’ headline, “They laughed when I sat down at the piano...”t• Appeal to identity (example: “Don’t Mess with Texas”).t- • Group interest is often a better predictor of political opinion than self-interest.t- • People don't ask “what's in it for me?” but, “what's in it for my group?”t- • Appeal to who people already are, and also who they would like to be.t• Stay out of “Maslow’s basement.” People aren’t necessarily motivated by the lowest levels of Maslow’s “hierarchy of needs.” It isn't actually a hierarchy; people pursue the various levels simultaneously; there's overlap.Storiest• Stories provide simulation; they cause the listener to mentally play along.t• Mental practice is more effective for mental activity than physical activity. Metal practice yields two thirds the benefit of physical practice.t• Stories provide inspiration, which drive action.Inspirational story plotst• Challenge: underdog story, such as David and Goliath.t• Connection: overcoming barriers, such as in The Good Samaritan and Romeo and Juliet.t• Creativity: mental breakthrough, such as the apple falling on Newton’s head.Example: Jared’s Subway Diett• Simple: Eat subs and lose weight.t• Unexpected: A guy lost a ton of weight by eating fast food.t• Concrete: Oversized pants, loss of girth, particular sandwiches.t• Credible: Has anti-authority truthfulness: the guy who wore 60-inch pants is giving diet advice.t• Emotional: We care more about an individual (Jared) than about a mass. It taps into profound areas of Maslow’s hierarchy: It’s about a guy who reached his potential with the help of a sub shop.t• Story: Our protagonist overcomes big odds to triumph. It inspires the rest of us to do the same.
What do You think about Made To Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive And Others Die (2007)?
Let's assume that since I get invited back to keynote at the same conferences, I'm a more-than-decent speaker. And, that since a couple of the books I've written are bestsellers, I must make them interesting to readers. Why mention this? Because my copy of Made to Stick is filled with sticky notes that are covered with ideas for upcoming speeches and writings. This book motivates application of the ideas it contains. Yes, I've used several of the core techniques described in the book for years--using stories, making ideas concrete, keeping the core message central, tapping into why the audience should care, using surprise, and ensuring credibility. And, I've continually worked on trying to limit what I want to convey. However, this book ORGANIZED my thoughts about these techniques and gave me a great description of my own trap--the Curse of Knowledge, the fact that once we're experts on something, we tend to talk more abstractedly. It's tough to step into the shoes of someone who is new to Jungian type or a student who doesn't grasp what algebra is and understand what they need. Made to Stick isn't about propaganda techniques, but about a language that helps people understand what you're communicating.Ample examples for both the world of education and the world of business, this is a reference I will return to many times.
—Jane
I came upon this book in a convoluted fashion. It was nearly recommended to me in a round about sort of way by Richard, a GoodReads friend, when he pointed to a review of Blink by someone else on GoodReads who is some sort of expert in the field (although, I have to admit I’m still not totally sure which field that is). The expert felt Gladwell was a little too simplistic. I enjoyed Gladwell’s books very much and so was keen to see what made them seem too simplistic to someone ‘in the field’ and what a book they would recommend as not being too simplistic would be like. I was surprised, then, when this one started by praising Gladwell’s The Tipping Point.This is a very interesting book. There is no question that this book would be very useful if you are a teacher or a journalist – it shows how stories are better than lists of facts and statistics and shows how structuring your message around concrete examples that are directly relevant to the needs of your audience is going to make your audience much more interested in what you have to say. This all sounds far too familiar and far too simple – but actually, the book is remarkably good at breathing new life into these near clichés. The problem is that everyone knows things like KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) but no one ever bothers following this advice, mostly because it is given as abstract advice (some idiot talking about the KISS Principle) rather than in good, clear examples in ways that are designed to make the lesson stick.Many of the stories in this book I had heard before, in fact, many more of the stories in this book than in any of Gladwell’s books, but they are told not so much to get you to drop your jaw in surprise, which does seem to be Gladwell’s gift even when I don’t agree with him, but rather to instruct,The clever thing they do in the book is to use lots of stories from not-for-profit organisations that are seeking to get their message across – stories not just about people making money – and how these organisations have been ‘creative’ in attracting the attention of their potential audience. The point that is made over and again is that it really has nothing to do with being creative, it is about knowing what the rules are that make a good story – a story that is directed at illuminating your key message.That is another thing that I learned in this book – that there should be one message, not three, that if you have three main messages no one will remember any of your ‘messages’. At the start of this book I was worried that it might turn out to be a ‘standard American Self-help book’ as it did have that kind of smell about it. But it redeemed itself nicely. The advice is the kind of advice one can never hear too frequently about the benefits of keeping a message simple and direct. It is not about dumbing down the message, it is about making the message clear. And there is a hell of a difference between those two.Like a good self-help book there is even a crappy acronym, which in this case is SUCCES:•tSimple — find the core of any idea•tUnexpected — grab people's attention by surprising them •tConcrete — make sure an idea can be grasped and remembered later •tCredibility — give an idea believability •tEmotion — help people see the importance of an idea •tStories — empower people to use an idea through narrative But crappy acronyms can be sadly underrated and this one worked well at structuring the book and in summarising the message. (I’ve stolen the dotpoints from here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Made_to_...)This is, in fact, a very good book and the sort of book that anyone who tends towards corporate speak should be forced to read – well, forced to read after they have been sent to a re-education camp for due punishment for six months. I’m thinking along the lines of bamboo under fingernails or perhaps waterboarding before Obama bans it. If you are afraid that you might make PowerPoint presentations that are just like everyone else’s – and that idea sends a shiver down your spine – this book is for you.I’ve been rather lucky lately, I’ve found a string of fascinatingly interesting books. Enjoy…
—Trevor
A very engaging book that traces the art of articulation around 6 predominant characteristics: simplicity, unexpectedness, concreteness, credibility, emotional and story or narrative.While the audience and anecdotes are often from advertising or the corporate world, it's focus is beneficial to a wider audience. Educators, spiritual leaders and those working in social movements can benefit greatly from this exploration of messaging. What I see as the strengths of the book are: 1) it does not pander to manipulative tactics even when speaking of appeals to emotions, 2) it offers numerous illustrations of how these principles were applied in various strands of life, 3) it is very readable (thus being a good example of stickiness) and 4) it calls for excellence without intimidating the novice.By focusing on ideas and not simple pragmatic solutions, the book provides a blueprint for individuals, teams or companies to find their voice in today's overstimulated society. I began the book somewhat skeptical as an individual who disdains the generic marketing approaches of western culture, however, I was slowly drawn in to the process. Believing that there is a message that can resonate with your audience without compromising your personal values and beliefs is refreshing. I do recommend this book to anyone willing to explore their public or internal communication.
—Glen
