Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
Where to buy Made to Stick: Why Some Thoughts Survive and Others Die books online?
Product Description
Mark Twain once experimental, “A lie can get middle around the world before the truth can even get its boots on.” His observation rings right: Urban legends, conspiracy theories, and bogus public-health scares circulate effortlessly. Meanwhile, people with vital thoughts–business people, teachers, politicians, journalists, and others–struggle to make their thoughts “stick.”
Why do some thoughts thrive while others die? And how do we improve the chances of worthy thoughts? In Made to Stick, accomplished educators and thought collectors Chip and Dan Heath tackle head-on these vexing questions. Inside, the brothers Heath reveal the anatomy of thoughts that stick and clarify ways to make thoughts stickier, such as applying the “human scale principle,” using the “Velcro Theory of Memory,” and making “curiosity gaps.”
In this indispensable guide, we learn that sticky messages of all kinds–from the infamous “kidney theft ring” hoax to a coach’s lessons on sportsmanship to a vision for a new product at Sony–draw their power from the same six traits.
Made to Stick is a book that will transform the way you communicate thoughts. It’s a quick-paced tour of success tales (and failures)–the Nobel Prize-winning scientist who drank a glass of bacteria to prove a point about stomach ulcers; the charities who make use of “the Mother Teresa Effect”; the elementary-school teacher whose simulation really prevented racial prejudice. Provocative, eye-opening, and regularly surprisingly amusing, Made to Stick shows us the vital principles of winning thoughts–and tells us how we can apply these rules to building our own messages stick.
Buy Cheap Made to Stick: Why Some Thoughts Survive and Others Die Online
Related posts:
- Stick Up for Yourself: Every Kid’s Guide to Personal Power & Positive Self-Esteem
- How to Survive the Loss of a Love
- Survive!: Essential Skills and Tactics to Get You Out of Anywhere-Alive
- Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive
- How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times
(I proposed to give this 5 stars, not 2. But, the edit function did not permit a change in the star scale so please note – my rating is 5, not 2 stars. DBA)
Sometimes, the value of a book obtains from how the lessons or insights therein can be applied in additional ways. That was the case for me in reading this work by the Heath brothers. Here is what I wrote–the latter past of the essay is a synopsis of the main contents.
Excellent thoughts regularly have a hard time succeeding in the world. Yet the ridiculous Kidney Heist (urban legend) tale keeps circulating, with no resources whatsoever to support it. Why? Is it simply because hijacked kidneys sell better than additional topics? Or is it possible to make a right, worthwhile thought circulate as effectively as this fake thought?
~Chip and Dan Heath, Made to Stick: Why Some Thoughts Survive and Others Die.
I sometimes get discouraged. Despite all my essays and newsletters, speeches, books and media appearances, the wellness message has not made a huge impression. People certainly are not a lot in excellent health than they were before my first book came out over 30 years ago. Worse, I have not become a wealthy celebrity, despite all the opinions I have offered here and there and everywhere. This is an outrage and I wish I did not have to place up with it.
How do I manage to stay pleased, cheerful, fit and productive, despite the reluctance of the public to adore me? Simple. I try not to reflect about the injustice of it all. This works reasonably nicely, until I come upon a discouraging word — or two. This happened recently when my buddy Bob Ludlow responded to an essay I had sent for his review. After the usual pleasantries and kind words, Bob provided the following “tough like:”
One more point that I have made before: Your platform, so to speak, is wellness; and everything you write, as far as I know, is within a wellness context (make that a to some extent expanded wellness context). Sometimes I get the sense that this limits you, that you could say “it” better and more effectively if you dropped the confines of your wellness-guru role and just wrote what you wanted to say, how you wanted to say it.
Let me place this in a close-to-sixty-eight-year perspective: I can’t reflect of a single time I have ever heard anyone I know utter the word “wellness” additional than you. I have seen the word in print from time to time, but it’s permanently in a sham publicity context.
So I question you, are you not limiting your potential audience by between your thoughts and insights to the mostly ignored “wellness movement?” Especially considering that your take on most issues seems to be a minority position within the movement you helped to establish?
My impression is that wellness just hasn’t caught on; it’s not something people reflect about; it’s not in the forefront of many people’s consciousness, and it probably won’t be for the foreseeable future. Nobody’s adage, or thinking, “Wow, a new wellness book has just been published; I sure hope Barnes and Noble still has a copy left.”
Question: Is effective within the confines of wellness limiting you? Is it limiting your potential audience?
As I told you, except for your writings, which I value and delight in, I could not care less about the rest of “wellness.
As you might imagine, this sparked some reflection, if not an immediate sense that I needed some career counseling. Yet, being less than a year and a half from seventy years of age, it might be a small late in the game for me to apply to medical school, seek leading roles in Hollywood, try out for the New York Yankees or get ongoing on any of the additional fun careers I fantasized about when I was in high school.
I wrote to Bob and clarified that he provided a valuable service. He motivated me to reflect about some vital issues personally as well as about the future of the wellness movement. I did not disagree with anything he described. Perhaps I am indeed too closely identified with the word “wellness, which could be off-putting. But, I also pointed out that I do write what I want to say, how I want to say it. I also insisted that I try not to come off like a guru of wellness or guru of anything else.
I admitted his assessment was scary and that I needed to break out of the wellness box, that the concept has not and probably won’t catch on (in time, at least, for me to benefit from it). The burden is on me, I realize, to reflect about ways to escape the wellness confines that limit my potential audience.
I told Bob his advice was welcomed and appreciated even if it frightened me, particularly because it reminded me of the error of my ways and futile career paths!!!!
Before long after this exchange with Bob Ludlow, and just in time to redirect my hopeless career path, I came across a new book entitled, “Made to Stick: Why Some Thoughts Survive and Others Die” by Chip and Dan Heath. This work suggests that there are six principles that might make my message much more effective, thereby eventually harnessing the wellness concept to change (and maybe even saving) the world. Or something. The six principles are:
Simplicity — Strip an thought to its core, prioritize and make proverbs if possible that are both simple and profound. The Golden Rule is the essential model of simplicity.
Unexpectedness — To get an audience to pay attention and maintain their interest, I must violate their expectations. This involves being counterintuitive.
Concreteness — Thoughts must be communicated in terms of human actions, sensory information. I must avoid jargon (for examples, mission statements, synergies, strategies, visions) that can seem having no effect. I need concrete images, the kind that turn up in memorable urban legends (guys with missing kidneys waking up in ice-filled bathtubs after messing around with women not their wives, for instance).
Credibility — People are more likely to embrace wellness thoughts if believable images are conveyed that give the wellness appeals a convincing stature. Memorable phrases (“Before you vote, question yourself if you are better off today than you were four years ago”, for example) can do the trick.
Emotions — Why should people care? You have to make readers or a live audience feel the message, or something, such as disgust at the unhealthiness of one thing or another or resentment at the duplicity of the villain depicted.
Tales — Get people to act by telling tales to erect a richer, more perfect feel for the situation or mentally rehearse what will have to be done. This will enable an audience to respond more quickly and effectively when the real thing is encountered in daily life.
The authors of Made to Stick offer these insights as the six principles of successful thoughts. In a single sentence, they review these six keys that I can use to break out of the despondency of wellness: “Make messages that are simple and unexpected and concrete and credentialed and that contain an emotional tale.” That’s it. How hard can that be?
Well, we’ll see. If you spot me on Oprah or on late night with Jay or Larry in the weeks to come, you will know I figured it out. Otherwise, look for more essays right here forevermore or until I wear out, whichever comes first.
Meanwhile, stay well and, like me, look on the bright side of life, whether or not anyone’s paying attention.
Reader’s Rating: 2 / 5
I’ll be honest, I haven’t finished this book……I’m not sure I ever will. The book doesn’t stick…..ironic, huh? Chip and Dan Heath have managed to write a book about common principals: Simplicity,Unexpectedness,Concreteness,Credibility,Emotions and Tales, aka,
SUCCES.
Wow, revolutionary! These are principals of sales managers,writers, real estate agents, teachers, you name it, the brothers Heath have just managed to apply an acronym to these “DUH!” factors.
This was a tough read, I establish myself nodding off mid chapter. There is no new ground broken here, just a rehashing of thoughts and strategies that are
commonly applied in everyday life, from the most successful entrepreneur to the soccer mom.
I realize I’m not being honest by reviewing a book I didn’t end reading, but to Chip and Dan I dispense this simple advise. N.T.M.I.S…..Next time, make it stick.
Reader’s Rating: 2 / 5
This is a rehash of a couple of simple and well known thoughts.If you can reflect up an thought that will shock ( a memory techneque) and you have a deep understanding of the culture and market your selling into then you have the guts of this book.You hook the thoughts in the market to the shock perception and people remember and become curious.
First have a deep understanding the culture and market , the hard part .In my unhumble opinion Made to stick is another example of book cobbled together to make money.With the clever marketing technique they espouse-”Made to stick” and a review that must have been from a friend .Fortunately the library paid for this privileged information.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
Depending what you are trying to get out of the book, this book didn’t do it for ME.
I own a 15 year ancient Public Relations Firm as marketing and sales knowledge is critical. I bought the book based on the fantastic reviews and couldn’t know why?
For a book that espouses “stickiness”, it was a hard read. I had to force myself to read each chapter.
One example is an analogy of trying to clarify a “Pomelo”, which is a sort-of fruit, well you can say it’s like a grapefruit, sort of.
Quick Question: If you mixed pomelo juice with orange juice would it taste excellent? You might make a guess. But you must place a “flag” on it and tell people that a pomelo is “like” a grapefruit, you call up a mental image of a grapefruit. So, if you question me what a Pomelo is i would tell you “it’s like a grapefruit”(Now you know what a Pomelo is like). Wow, this is cutting edge, isn’t it?
Is this a sick joke? This Pomelo tale rambles and rambles until you feel like your reading what you kindergarden children are reading.
The above-mentioned is the type of mindless rambling that this book reads like. If your into this type of psyco-babble, this book is for you. If you value your precious time, stay away, far away.
If you are looking for fantastic sales and marketing books, this is not it. There are many fantastic (obscure) books on the market that will help you sell and market effectively which i want to recommend but that wouldn’t be honest to the authors of this mind numbing book. It was my mistake for buying it.
I know it looks like this review is a contrarian attack, but i really wanted to like this book. My apologies to the authors.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
Stickiness is okay if you have the luxury of time. But irresistable thoughts have an immediate wallop. It’s the difference between Ted Williams’ batting average and Babe Ruth’s punch. Get on base, or clear the bases!
People push back. People actively resist change. Reasonably a few, especially narcissists in management, are hostile and aggressive towards subordinates with clever thoughts. Clever thoughts are a threat.
So you need to find ways to direct their energy into your bat to blast your thought up into the cheap seats. Your thought can die a lonely death if it gets no further than 3rd base.
Consider reading the papers of Milton Erickson MD. He was The Man when it comes to getting people to embrace new thoughts.
Reader’s Rating: 4 / 5