MADE TO STICK - Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by CHIP HEATH & DAN HEATH

 MADE TO STICK - Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by CHIP HEATH & DAN HEATH

Sticky = understandable, memorable, and effective in changing

thought or behavior.

As we pored over hundreds of sticky ideas, we saw, over and over,

the same six principles at work. SUCCES

PRINCIPLE 1: SIMPLICITY

The Golden Rule is the ultimate model of simplicity: a one-sentence statement so profound that an individual could spend a lifetime learning to follow it.

PRINCIPLE 2: UNEXPECTEDNESS

We can use surprise—an emotion whose function is to increase

alertness and cause focus—to grab people’s attention. But surprise

doesn’t last. For our idea to endure, we must generate interest and curiosity.

PRINCIPLE 3: CONCRETENESS

We must explain our ideas in terms of human actions, in terms of sensory information, because our brains are wired to remember concrete data.

Put people into the story. A story is powerful because it provides the context missing from abstract prose. It’s back to the Velcro theory of memory, the idea that the more hooks we put into our ideas, the better they’ll stick.

PRINCIPLE 4: CREDIBILITY

We need ways to help people test our ideas for themselves—a “try before you buy” philosophy for the world of ideas.

PRINCIPLE 5: EMOTIONS

We are wired to feel things for people, not for abstractions.

PRINCIPLE 6: STORIES

Hearing stories acts as a kind of mental flight simulator, preparing us to respond more quickly and effectively.

Curse of Knowledge. Once we know something, we find it hard to imagine what it was like not to know it. Our knowledge has “cursed” us. And it becomes difficult for us to share our knowledge with others because we can’t readily re-create our listeners’ state of mind.

“Finding the core” means stripping an idea down to its most critical

essence. To get to the core, we’ve got to weed out superfluous and

tangential elements. But that’s the easy part. The hard part is weeding out ideas that may be really important but just aren’t the most important idea.

Simple messages are core and compact.  Proverbs are simple yet profound. Cervantes defined proverbs as “short sentences (compact) drawn from long experience (core)..”

Surprise gets our attention. Some naturally sticky ideas propose

surprising “facts”: The Great Wall of China is the only man-made structure visible from space! Interest keeps our attention. Conspiracy theories keep people ravenously collecting new information. Gossip keeps us coming back to our friends for developments.

If you want your ideas to be stickier, you’ve got to break someone’s guessing machine and then fix it. ensure that your unexpected ideas produce insight is to make sure you target an aspect of your audience’s guessing machines that relates to your core message.

This “gap theory” of interest seems to explain why some domains

create fanatical interest: They naturally create knowledge gaps.

Aesop authored some of the stickiest stories in world history. We’ve all heard his greatest hits: “The Tortoise and the Hare,” “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” “The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs,” “The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing,” Sour grapes”

The Power of Details as it boosted the credibility of the argument

When it comes to statistics, our best advice is to use them as input, not output. Use them to make up your mind on an issue. Don’t

make up your mind and then go looking for the numbers to support

yourself—that’s asking for temptation and trouble.

In 1954, a psychologist named Abraham Maslow surveyed the research

in psychology about what motivates people. You may remember this list as Maslow’s Pyramid or Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

• Transcendence: help others realize their potential

• Self-actualization: realize our own potential, self-fulfillment, peak experiences

• Aesthetic: symmetry, order, beauty, balance

• Learning: know, understand, mentally connect

• Esteem: achieve, be competent, gain approval, independence, status

• Belonging: love, family, friends, affection

• Security: protection, safety, stability

• Physical: hunger, thirst, bodily comfort

Subsequent research suggests that the hierarchical aspect of Maslow’s theory is bogus—people pursue all of these needs pretty much simultaneously

Our group affiliation may be based on race, class, religion, gender, region, political party, industry, or countless other dimensions of difference. A related idea comes from James March, a professor at Stanford University, who proposes that we use two basic models to make decisions. 

1. The first model involves calculating consequences. We weigh our alternatives, assessing the value of each one, and we choose the alternative that yields us the most value. This model is the standard view of decision-making in economics classes: People are self-interested and rational.

2. The second model is quite different. It assumes that people make decisions based on identity. They ask themselves three questions: Who am I? What kind of situation is this? And what do people like me do in this kind of situation? Notice that in the second model people aren’t analyzing the consequences or outcomes for themselves. There are no calculations, only norms, and principles.

Making an Idea Stick: The Communication Framework 

For an idea to stick, for it to be useful and lasting, it’s got to make the audience:

1. Pay attention: UNEXPECTED

2. Understand and remember it: CONCRETE

3. Agree/Believe: CREDIBLE

4. Care: EMOTIONAL

5. Be able to act on it: STORY