Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

by Chip Heath

Problems getting people to pay attention to a message SYMPTOM: “No one is listening to me” or “They seem bored—they hear this stuff all the time.” SOLUTION: Surprise them by breaking their guessing machines—tell them something that is uncommon sense. (The lead is, There will be no school next Thursday! Nordies gift-wrap packages from Macy’s!) SYMPTOM:“I lost them halfway through” or “Their attention was wavering toward the end.” SOLUTION: Create curiosity gaps—tell people just enough for them to realize the piece that’s missing from their knowledge. (Remember Roone Arledge’s introductions to college football games, setting the context for the rivalry.) Or create mysteries or puzzles that are slowly solved over the course of the communication. (Like the professor who started each class with a mystery, such as the one about Saturn’s rings.) Problems getting people to understand and remember SYMPTOM: “They always nod their heads when I explain it to them, but it never seems to translate into action.” SOLUTION: Make the message simpler and use concrete language. Use what people already know as a way to make your intentions clearer, as with a generative analogy (like Disney’s “cast member” metaphor). Or use concrete, real-world examples. Don’t talk about “knowledge management”; tell a story about a health worker in Zambia getting information on malaria from the Internet. SYMPTOM: “We have these meetings where it seems like everyone is talking past each other” or “Everyone has s...