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Made to Stick Kindle – 4 Sep 2008

by Chip Heath (Author), Dan Heath (Author)

1 customer review

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Why does fake news stick while the truth goes missing?

Why do disproved urban legends persist? How do you keep letting newspapers and clickbait sites lure you in with their headlines? And why do you remember complicated stories but not complicated facts?

Over ten years of study, Chip and Dan Heath have discovered how we latch on to information hooks. Packed full of case histories and incredible anecdotes, it shows:

- how an Australian scientist convinced the world he'd discovered the cause of stomach ulcers by drinking a glass filled with bacteria

- how a gifted sports reporter got people to watch a football match by showing them the outside of the stadium

- how pitches like 'Jaws on a spaceship' (Alien) and 'Die Hard on a bus' (Speed) convince movie execs to invest gigantic sums even when they know nothing else about the project

As entertaining as it is informative, this is a timely exploration of a fascinating human behaviour. At the same time, by demonstrating strategies like the 'Velcro Theory of Memory' and 'curiosity gaps', it offers superbly practical insights.

Made to Stick uses cutting-edge insight to help you ensure that what you say is understood, remembered and, most importantly, acted upon.

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Product details

Kindle Edition: 306 pages
Publisher: Cornerstone Digital (4 September 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 009950569X
ISBN-13: 978-0099505693
ASIN: B0031RS2XG
Average Customer Review: 1 customer review
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 19,339 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #359 in Strategic Business Planning
- #400 in Business Systems & Planning (Books)
- #9843 in Politics, Philosophy & Social Sciences

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Review

"Their analysis is peppered with memorable stories, images and facts ... This book is a gift to anyone who needs to get a message across and make it stick" (New Statesman)

"This is great for anyone planning a speech or trying to get their message across at work" (Psychologies)

"The Heaths push beyond what sounds like it should work and explain why it actually does" (Time Magazine)

"... an entertaining, practical guide to effective communication." (Publishers Weekly)

"Smart, lively . . . such fun to read" (Saturday Guardian) --This text refers to an alternate Kindle Edition edition.

Book Description

A bestselling communications book that helps ensure what you say is understood, remembered and, most importantly, acted upon --This text refers to an alternate Kindle Edition edition.

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An Exercise in Stickiness

25 September 2014

Format: Kindle Edition

Really quick--before you have time to think--grab a pen and a pad of yellow sticky notes. Yes, they have to be yellow. Write down the following six principles of memorable messages:

1. Simplicity
2. Unexpectedness
3. Concreteness
4. Credibility
5. Emotional
6. Stories

It's a shame you're not in a bookstore right now--you could just tear the definitions right off of the dust jacket. Never mind. Now give yourself a moment to let your irritation pass at the cuteness of the first letters spelling out "success." There it goes. Not so bad, really. No worse than some of those sales management acronyms.

Now put this sticky note up where you work. And think about it for a day or two. Then read this book. I'm not saying buy it, necessarily. But read it. It will help you make your messages mighty and memorable. Tell people I said so. Yell it at them if you have to.

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Amazon.com: 1,053 reviews

Thomas M. Loarie

Do Your Ideas Gain Traction and “Stick” or Are They Cast Aside?

21 August 2016 - Published on Amazon.com

Verified Purchase

Brothers Chip and Dan Heath in their New York Time’s best-selling book, “Made to Stick,” explore the stickiness of an idea. Those of us who spend time in the start-up world marvel at why one idea gains traction and other, seemingly better ideas, fall to wayside. The Heath brothers provide insights on this phenomenon and provide help for those bent on creating ideas that are “sticky.”

“Sticky” ideas are understandable, memorable, and effective in changing thought or behavior. The six underlying SUCCESs principles for making things “stick” are:

• Simplicity – Simple=core+compact. Find and share your core idea; make it simple and profound. “It’s the economy, stupid” (Clinton campaign, 1992) is a great example. The inverted pyramid approach which is used in journalism is a good tool to get your headline.
• Unexpectedness - We need to violate people’s expectations to get them to pay attention. Break existing patterns to get people’s attention. Southwest flight attendants use humor (there are two doors on either side if you need to jump!) to hold attention when giving the pre-flight safety announcement. Humans adapt incredibly quickly to patterns. Consistent sensory stimulation makes us tune out.
• Concreteness – You must help people understand and remember. Don’t use abstractions. Make your core idea concrete. Use common knowledge to make your idea stick. Our greatest villain is the Curse of Knowledge or when we assume everyone knows what we know or shares our unique perspective. We have to see it from the “others” point of view. We forget what other people do not know and slip into “abstractspeak.” Boeing’s criteria for a new plane was not “the best passenger plane in the world” but one that can seat 131 passengers and land on Runway 2-22 at LaGuardia. No ambiguity here.
• Credibility – Help people believe by making sure your idea carries its own credentials. Pass the “Sinatra Test.” Examples offered include “Where’s the Beef?” and Reagan’s “Are you better off today?” Both were credible and resonated as they were based on common shared knowledge.
• Emotional– Make people care by using the power of association, appealing to self-interest, or identity. “People donate to Rokia more than a wide swath of Africa”; “Honoring the Game” versus the use of the word ‘sportsmanship’; “I’m in charge of morale” as stated by a US military cook in Iraq. We must make people feel something to get them to care. We are wired to feel things, not abstractions.
• Stories – Stories get people to act on our ideas. Stories act as a kind of mental flight simulator, preparing us to respond more quickly and effectively. Stories are told and retold because they contain wisdom. The Healths provide what they view are the three basic story plots – the Challenge Plot, The Connection Plot, and the Creativity Plot. Stories can almost single-handedly defeat “The Curse of Knowledge.” I have been involved in a ministry for people in career-transition for over fifteen years. We consistently advise those in-transitions to create stories to highlight their skills and experience when interviewing. It is well understood that interviewers will mostly remember your comportment and more importantly, your stories.

A chapter is devoted to each principle with the authors providing context for clarity and understanding, examples, and tools to guide the development of a “sticky” idea.

The Curse of Knowledge is what escapes most when trying to pitch an idea. It is the natural psychological tendency that consistently gets in the way of our ability to successfully create “sticky ideas” using these principles. Once we know something, we find it hard to imagine what it was like not to know. This knowledge has “cursed” us and makes it difficult to share our knowledge with others. It is because we cannot readily re-create our listeners state of mind. When a CEO discusses “unlocking shareholder value,” there is a tune playing in his head that the employees can’t hear. On the other hand, President John F. Kennedy knew that opaque, abstract missions don’t captivate and inspire people so he concretely challenged the country with “landing on the moon by the end of the decade.”

Throughout the book, the authors present “Idea Clinics” which illustrate how an idea can be made stickier. Example: ”Do smokers really need to understand the workings of the lungs in order to appreciate the dangers of smoking?”

The book itself is “sticky’ filled with stories of normal people facing normal problems who did an amazing thing simply by applying these principles, even if they were not aware that they were doing this. They distinguish themselves by crafting ideas that made a difference.

Do your ideas gain traction and “Stick” or are they cast aside for less important ideas? “Made to Stick” was written for you.

43 people found this helpful.

Joe

Terribly boring, bad writing

14 August 2018 - Published on Amazon.com

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I love almost all business and marketing books - I inhale them in a few days.

I can’t read this book for more than 10 minutes at a time. It actually makes me angry how boring it is.

One chapter per letter of SUCCES (intentional).

Each chapter is drawn out like no other.

The basic premise is revealed, then come in some random stories loosely based on studies.

It’s really a terrible book.

The idea is cool, will look for a summary.

14 people found this helpful.

Rev. Dr. C.H.E. Sadaphal

An easy-to-use formula on how to identify and create successful, “sticky” and transformative ideas.

8 January 2016 - Published on Amazon.com

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Some ideas are very “sticky” meaning they are lasting, generative, and convey an important message. A classic example is: “Do onto others as you would have them do onto you.” In Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath explain why ideas stick, and provide the reader with a “sticky blueprint.”

Essentially, sticky ideas are never a matter of happenstance, but all share six common traits. With a keen understanding of all six traits, you will be able to produce stickier ideas and subsequently revitalize the way you express yourself and transform those whom you lead with positive results.
Made to Stick empowers anyone with the right insights and the right message to make any idea “stick.”

The book proceeds linearly through the sticky blueprint: the acronym S.U.C.C.E.S. Hence, in order to make an idea sticky it has to be simple, unexpected, concrete, credible, emotional, and tell a story. The peculiars of each trait are explored in comprehensive detail within each chapter. Generally speaking even though this book is 250+ pages, it is a very quick read.

Made to Stick is one of three books written on transformative change by the Heath brothers. The other two books are Switch: How to change things when change is hard and Decisive: How to make better choices in life and work. There are many areas of cross-over between the three selections, and I have derived the most value from each book after considering it in context of all three. Hence, Made to Stick helps you to start your journey with a bold idea that anyone can latch onto. Switch reveals how to materialize that idea into tough environments. Finally, Decisive equips you with the tools to navigate fuzzy terrain in the midst of your path to something revolutionary.

17 people found this helpful.

Amazon Customer

I hate reading, but this one was easy!

14 August 2018 - Published on Amazon.com

Verified Purchase

I hate reading. I had to read this book for a sales class I'm taking and it is actually very interesting and easy to read! It was enjoyable, kept me reading on and I was learning with every chapter! It very well lays out how to create interest and make concrete images that "stick" with your customer. It was extremely easy for me to think of my own ideas after reading this book. I wowed my instructor in my class with my ideas. Defiantly recommend even if you hate reading, this one is a very easy read. I even highlighted certain things and I would go back and look at it or read it again.

2 people found this helpful.

Anita Raquel

I enjoyed the book

17 March 2015 - Published on Amazon.com

Verified Purchase

I enjoyed the book, but even though the ideas were useful, it was pretty much common sense stuff. Maybe it was just an unrealistic expectation on my part, but I did expect more- more in the way of insights, more specific tips about how to craft compelling headlines to get someone to read your content- and what was presented was mostly very general, and not really completely on target. I did still find it useful, because there were things that I had not thought of, even if it was all much less specific than I had hoped. There wasn't anything truly outstanding. I guess you can only invent the wheel once in a great while. It did have some good points in it, but somehow, I felt that I had been led to believe that there was so much more substance to it. It was kind of like being sold on a trip to Everest, and finding yourself at Mt. Washington. If you had been sold a trip to the White Mountains, Mt. Washington would have been quite a spectacle; when you're expecting Everest, Mt. Washington is a mere bump. I feel much better served when the ad copy under-promises, and then over-delivers. That about sums it up.

4 people found this helpful.

Made to Stick Kindle – 4 Sep 2008

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