Made to Stick

In case you haven't noticed, I've had the book, Made to Stick, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath on my "Currently Reading" list for a long time now.  I've started and stopped, started and stopped and started and stopped.  Hate that!

But now, I've started AGAIN and have not stopped.  (And don't get me wrong, I wasn't stopping because the book was bad or boring.  Actually, quite the opposite.  I wanted to devote some solid time to reading through the entire book instead of trying to fit it in little by little.)

So with that said, let me say LOUD and CLEAR that this is a book that EVERY communicator/pastor/teacher/leader/CEO/marketer/and anyone else who has a message that they believe needs to STICK with people, should read!

The book examines why some ideas seem to STICK and SURVIVE and others don't.  The authors expound on these six principles of sticky ideas throughout the book:

Simplicity - Creating ideas that are both simple and profound.

Unexpectedness - We need to violate people's expectations.  For our idea to endure, we must generate interest and curiosity. 

Concreteness - Ideas must be explained in terms of human actions and sensory information.  We tend to gravitate towards ambiguous to the point of being meaningless.  People remember concrete ideas and data.  Abstraction makes it harder to understand an idea and to remember it.

Credibility - Sticky ideas have to carry their own credentials.  We need to find ways to help people test our ideas for themselves. 

Emotions - People will care about our ideas when we help them feel something.

Stories - Hearing stories help motivate people to act on our ideas.

As I'm reading the book I can't help but think of Andy Stanley's book, Communicating for Change (Me, We, God, You, We.)  See my review here.  The parallels are amazing.  Both should be in every communicator's library. 

Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

Made to Stick Blog

Communicating for Change by Andy Stanley and Lane Jones

Andy Stanley's Blog - Oh wait...He doesn't have one.  C'mon man....

Comments

[Jeff Leake]

I found that same connection between the two books. Both books are absolutely incredible and essential for anyone who is a communicator.

[metromom]

communicating for change= incredible book. and it works too.

[ted]

both great books!

[Peter Carino]

Scott,
I was just talking about this book with a friend. I'm picking up a copy tomorrow!