Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others DieNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The instant classic about why some ideas thrive, why others die, and how to make your ideas stick. “Anyone interested in influencing others—to buy, to vote, to learn, to diet, to give to charity or to start a revolution—can learn from this book.”—The Washington Post Mark Twain once observed, “A lie can get halfway around the world before the truth can even get its boots on.” His observation rings true: Urban legends, conspiracy theories, and bogus news stories circulate effortlessly. Meanwhile, people with important ideas—entrepreneurs, teachers, politicians, and journalists—struggle to make them “stick.” In Made to Stick, Chip and Dan 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. Along the way, we discover 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 will transform the way you communicate. It’s a fast-paced tour of success stories (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 actually prevented racial prejudice. Provocative, eye-opening, and often surprisingly funny, Made to Stick shows us the vital principles of winning ideas—and tells us how we can apply these rules to making our own messages stick. |
Contents
3 | |
CHAPTER 1 | 25 |
CONCRETE | 98 |
CHAPTER 4 | 130 |
CHAPTER 5 | 174 |
STORIES | 204 |
EPILOGUE | 238 |
STICKY ADVICE | 253 |
CHAPTER 2 | 259 |
TALKING STRATEGY Craniums CHIFF Inert strategies Costcos salmon | 262 |
TEACHING THAT STICKS Mugs as variables The San Diego Zoos food | 283 |
NOTES | 291 |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS | 309 |
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abstract answer appeal asked attention audience believe better build called campaign cause Challenge chapter communication concept concrete core create creative credibility Curse of Knowledge customers decisions designed don't effective emotional employees engineers example experience fact feel give goal hard ideas imagine important inspire interesting it's Jared kids kind knowledge later lead less look manager means mental movie names natural organization percent person plot popcorn presentation principles problem question remember researchers says schema self-interest sense simple simulation situation someone statistics stick story strategy success surprise talk teacher tell Test there's things thought tion told truth trying turn understand unexpected