Book 7 - Made to stick

"We must create ideas that are both simple and profound"

This was a quote from the book, “Made to Stick” of brother Chip and Dan Heath. Why do some ideas thrive while others die? And how do we improve the chances of worthy ideas? In Made to Stick, the authors Heath reveal the anatomy of ideas that stick and explain ways to make ideas stickier, such as applying the "human scale principle," using the "Velcro Theory of Memory," and creating "curiosity gaps." They show to us how to grab people’s attention in an information rich economy, get your ideas through, and make the message stick with a simple formula. The two authors use their first of six principles, “Simplicity”, in their stickiness formula by making their six principles form an acronym SUCCESs:

1. Simplicity: the idea must be stripped to its core idea, the touchstone, and the most important benefits of the touchstone should jump out
2. Unexpectedness: the idea must destroy preconceived notions about something. This forces people to stop, think, and remember
3. Concreteness: Visible in real life experiences, avoid statistics, use real-world analogies to help people understand complex ideas
4. Credibility: Must be believable, if people don't trust you, they'll ignore you
5. Emotions: information makes people think, but emotion makes them act
6. Stories: telling a story [gets] people into paying closer attention, and feeling more connected

Reading the book about sticky ideas makes us hope the authors’ make their own principles sticky – and the Heaths do so using what they teach. Each principle contains story from our real-life, and these examples of ideas stuck in people’s minds. They stuck in our mind as the stories used are entertaining, funny and interesting for all of us.

We all have a message to deliver in the end of the day so it is on us to make this message get delivered properly and stacked in receiver minds. I think remembering the word SUCCESs and its principles will help all of us in our daily life.

Regards,
Anri