Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

This book is getting a great deal more attention than Allison Fine's "MOMENTUM: igniting social change in the connected age," so up front I want to say I consider them BOTH to be extremely complementary to one another, and MUST READS for any social activist or political reformer, as well as for those crafting educational or corporate messages. I cannot improve on Brian Bex Huf's review, which I voted for, but for the sake of coherence for those who are alerted when I do a review, here is the meat from Brian's review: * Simplicity: the idea must be stripped to its core, and the most important concepts should jump out. * Unexpectedness: the idea must destroy preconceived notions about something. This forces people to stop, think, and remember. * Concreteness: avoid statistics, use real-world analogies to help people understand complex ideas. * 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! * Emotional: information makes people think, but emotion makes them act. Appeal to emotional needs, sometimes even way up on Maslow's hierarchy. * Stores: telling a story [gets] people into paying closer attention, and feeling more connected. Remember the Jared Subway commercials? The book ends with a five page reference guide that persuaded me of the author's value as consultants. They have given us a low-cost book we can use our5selves, but I am also persuaded they are valuable as brain-stormers for those trying to craft transpartisan and electoral reform messages, so I am recommending them both to the leadership of Reuniting America. LOTS of details and examples. Easily a five-star book with great social and political value. Momentum: Igniting Social Change in the Connected Age The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual

The ideas in this book are terrific. We kind of know some of Heath's principles: simplicity (well, we've heard about KISS forever), unexpectedness (there should be something shocking or at least edgy to make it dynamic,) concreteness (it can't be "mystery meat" you have be able to connect with the essence right away,) credibility (one has to get an initial feeling of "worthiness"), it has to excite, to have emotional as well as rational appeal, and stories help (well, we've heard about testimonials, and parables too). But here in this book Heath puts it all into focus so you have a concrete measuring scale to work with. He illustrates his points with some good examples. How do you get big, bad truckers to stop littering the State of Texas? "Give a hoot, don't pollute" is too tame for these macho guys. So state officials came up with the slogan "Don't mess with Texas" and did TV spots with such consummate Texans as Ed Jones of the Dallas Cowboys and country music's Willie Nelson. "Business managers seem to believe that, once they've clocked through a PowerPoint presentation showcasing their conclusions, they've successfully communicated their ideas," Heath writes. "What they've done is share data" Sticky ideas shock, move and convince us. "If you want your ideas to be stickier, you've got to break someone's guessing machine and then fix it." I had read about Heath's research in Cognitive Psychology, Psychology Today, and Scientific American. Unfortunately not before I made two big mistakes. But, thanks to what I have since learned, I think I have been able to correct them. I'm a board certified cognitive behavioral therapist who has had great success training people to re-wire their brains to quickly get out of the pain of depression by using simple mind exercises to switch their neural activity from the feeling part of the brain (the subcortex) to the thinking part of the brain (the neocortex). These exercises are based on neuroplasticity, the ability of the brain to re-wire itself as a result of changes in one's thinking and behavior. So far, so good. I called the process Directed Thinking, successfully presented my research before the National Board of Cognitive Behavioral Therapists, and got a trademark. BUT THE NAME WAS NOT CATCHY. The second mistake was letting my publisher use the title DEPRESSION IS A CHOICE. What I meant was that people had a choice TO GET OUT OF Depression but many people were insulted because they thought I was saying they chose TO GET depressed in the first place, and I wasn't around to explain when a prospective reader picked up the book at Borders. But I think I got Heath's message loud and clear. My second book is called BRAINSWITCH OUT OF DEPRESSION!

With an entertaining blend of case studies and startling research, the Heath brothers lay out the critical elements of a sticky idea. They are-- 1. Simplicity 2. Unexpectedness 3. Concreteness 4. Credibility 5. Emotions 6. Stories As you might expect, the authors use these techniques to drive home their point. For example, in the chapter on stories, they talk about Subway's Jared campaign--quite a dramatic behind-the-scenes story besides being a near perfect example of storytelling in marketing. Although these six elements seem like common sense, they are woefully underapplied in business communication. The authors state it well-- "Business managers seem to believe that, once they've clicked through a PowerPoint presentation showcasing their conclusions, they've successfully communicated their ideas. What they've done is share data." Well researched, easy to read and hard to forget.

Although aimed at a business audience, I found the authors' suggestions for effective communication equally applicable in classrooms and writing projects. Success in helping students learn or persuading readers follows from applying the "SUCCESs" formula: keep your message Simple but profound; spark interest by opening with the Unexpected; use Concrete examples rather than abstract formulations; make your message Credible by reporting from direct experience; draw people in with Emotional impact; and use Stories to make your message memorable and of human interest. The authors base their arguments on well-validated social-psychological principles but never let the science get in the way of their well-written recommendations. I highly recommend this book for teachers at every level of instruction and for authors who want to increase the impact of their written words.

If you are going to write a guide to crafting sticky ideas, your book had better embody your principles. Authors Chip and Dan Heath succeed admirably. What I love about "Made to Stick" is that it is not merely entertaining (though it is), it provides practical, tangible strategies for creating sticky ideas. Once you understand these recommendations, you can boil them down to a set of touchstone points to evaluate your own work. This sets "Made to Stick" apart from the work of Malcolm Gladwell, whom the Heath brothers cite as an inspiration. I enjoyed Gladwell's books but could not necessarily apply his ideas to my own work. My review copy of "Made to Stick" is covered with highlighter. I am reading the book once through for pure pleasure, and then I am going back again to apply the ideas to evaluate the communications of a non-profit organization I am working for. "Made to Stick" challenges you to distill the essence of your message, to get back to core principles and to communicate them in a memorable way. Chip and Dan point out that as we become experts, we tend to use abstraction to define our ideas, and we lose our ability to communicate with novices. They teach us how to bridge that gap so that our ideas are once again accessible by everyone. "Made to Stick" gives you the tools you need to revamp your own messages. It provides "do it yourself" conuslting in book form, which will be appreciated by activists, entrepreneurs, and businesses of all sizes.