Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

by Chip Heath

“The first reaction was always something like ‘Oh, I never realized. . .’” Suri says she likes the word realized. Before the hospital workers saw the video, the problem wasn’t quite real. Afterward, she said, “There’s an immediate motivation to fix things. It’s no longer just some problem on a problem list.”

How can we make people care about our ideas? We get them to take off their Analytical Hats. We create empathy for specific individuals. We show how our ideas are associated with things that people already care about. We appeal to their self-interest, but we also appeal to their identities—not only to the people they are right now but also to the people they would like to be

stories are told and retold because they contain wisdom. Stories are effective teaching tools.

The story’s power, then, is twofold: It provides simulation (knowledge about how to act) and inspiration (motivation to act). Note that both benefits, simulation and inspiration, are geared to generating action.

credible idea makes people believe. An emotional idea makes people care. And in this chapter we’ll see that the right stories make people act.

Notice that these visualizations focus on the events themselves—the process, rather than the outcomes. No one has ever been cured of a phobia by imagining how happy they’ll be when it’s gone.

Mental simulation helps with problem-solving. Even in mundane planning situations, mentally simulating an event helps us think of things that we might otherwise have neglected.

How many great ideas have been extinguished because someone in the middle—a link between the source of the idea and its eventual outlet—dropped the ball?

Jared reminds us that we don’t always have to create sticky ideas. Spotting them is often easier and more useful.

to the conclusion that there are three basic plots: the Challenge plot, the Connection plot, and the Creativity plot.

THE CHALLENGE PLOT The story of David and Goliath is the classic Challenge plot. A protagonist overcomes a formidable challenge and succeeds.

There are variations of the Challenge plot that we all recognize: the underdog story, the rags-to-riches story, the triumph of sheer willpower over adversity.

Challenge plots are inspiring in a defined way. They inspire us by appealing to our perseverance and courage. They make us want to work harder, take on new challenges, overcome obstacles. Somehow, after you’ve heard about Rose Blumkin postponing her one-hundredth birthday party until an evening when her store was closed, it’s easier to clean out your garage. Challenge plots inspire us to act.

THE CONNECTION PLOT Today the phrase “good Samaritan” refers to someone who voluntarily helps others in times of distress. The original story of the Good Samaritan from the Bible is certainly consistent with this definition, but it’s even more profound.

What’s missing from this tale, for modern-day readers, is a bit of context. The Samaritan in the story was not simply a nice guy. He was a nice guy crossing a huge social gulf in helping the wounded man. At the time, there was tremendous hostility between Samaritans and Jews (all the other main characters in the story). A modern-day analogy to the outcast status of the Samaritan might be an “atheist biker gang member.” The lesson of the story is clear: Good neighbors show mercy and compassion, and not just to people in their own group.

All Connection plots inspire us in social ways. They make us want to help others, be more tolerant of others, work with others, love others.

Where Challenge plots involve overcoming challenges, Connection plots are about our relationships with other people.

The Creativity plot involves someone making a mental breakthrough, solving a long-standing puzzle, or attacking a problem in an innovative way.

The Drag Test implied, “We still need to get the right data to make decisions. We just need to do it a lot quicker.”

Creativity plots make us want to do something different, to be creative, to experiment with new approaches.

Ultimately, the test of our success as idea creators isn’t whether people mimic our exact words, it’s whether we achieve our goals.

If you’re a great spotter, you’ll always trump a great creator. Why? Because the world will always produce more great ideas than any single individual, even the most creative one.

One of the worst things about knowing a lot, or having access to a lot of information, is that we’re tempted to share it all.

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.

For an idea to stick, for it to be useful and lasting, it’s got to make the audience: 1. Pay attention 2. Understand and remember it 3. Agree/Believe 4. Care 5. Be able to act on it

And that’s the great thing about the world of ideas—any of us, with the right insight and the right message, can make an idea stick.

SIX PRINCIPLES: SUCCESs. SIMPLE UNEXPECTED CONCRETE CREDIBLE EMOTIONAL STORIES.

1. Simple FIND THE CORE. Commander’s Intent. Determine the single most important thing: “THE low-fare airline.” Inverted pyramid: Don’t bury the lead. The pain of decision paralysis. Beat decision paralysis through relentless prioritization: “It’s the economy, stupid.” Clinic: Sun exposure. Names, names, names. SHARE THE CORE. Simple = core + compact. Proverbs: sound bites that are profound. Visual proverbs: The Palm Pilot wood block. How to pack a lot of punch into a compact communication: (1) Using what’s there: Tap into existing schemas. The pomelo. (2) Create a high concept pitch: “Die Hard on a bus.” (3) Use a generative analogy: Disney’s “cast members.” 2. Unexpected GET ATTENTION: SURPRISE. The successful flight safety announcement. Break a pattern! Break people’s guessing machines (on a core issue). The surprise brow: a pause to collect information. Avoid gimmicky surprise—make it “postdictable.” “The Nordie who. . .” “There will be no school next Thursday.” Clinic: Too much on foreign aid? HOLD ATTENTION: INTEREST. Create a mystery: What are Saturn’s rings made of? Screenplays as models of generating curiosity. The Gap Theory of Curiosity: Highlight a knowledge gap. Use the news-teaser approach: “Which local restaurant has slime in the ice machine?” Clinic: Fund-raising. Priming the gap: How Roone Arledge made NCAA football interesting to nonfans. Hold long-term interest: the “pocketable radio” and the “man on the moon.” 3. Concrete HELP PEOPLE UNDERSTAND AND REME...