Made to stick - Review

  Not many books make you think, “Made to stick” made me think. It is as if the ideas in the book were pre dipped in super glue. As I read, they seamlessly attached themselves to my mind. The book is all about exploring the super glue that can stick our ideas in the fast moving world.

 Chip Heath and Dan Heath have put together a series of ideas to make your ideas stick. Of course this is not a get rich quickly, or success by thinking positive kind of book.

 What are the reasons behind good recall value of urban legends?  Can the reasons be used in real time to solve communication problems? According to the authors there are six things that constitute an idea that will stick. For instance all the urban legends would have at least satisfied four out of six components. Therefore the argument is, these components if used well can improve our communication.

For the authors, a sticky idea is that has at least few of the components from their formula of SUCCESS.

  S- Simple

  U-Unexpected

  C- Concrete

  C- Credible

  E- Emotional

  S-Stories

None of the components of their formula are new, and yet it needs a well written reminder to wake us out of abstract conversations. When a concept is abstract, it goes over our head.

A lot of parallel can be drawn to the “Competent Communicator” manual of Toastmasters International. Though they have never explicitly mentioned about the components to make ideas stick, the references are undeniable.

 For example, every Toastmasters Project encourages Simple themes and sentence constructions than roundabout and lengthy constructions. Surprise (Unexpected) is a component used to catch the attention of the audience, especially in the introduction of a speech. The term ‘vivid imagery’ is frequently used  which is equivalent to the Concrete word usage recommended by the book. Including Stories in your speech, especially stories with strong Emotion is one of the frequent evaluation points I received for my projects. I just did not know how to use them?

For me to use them, I had to know some well executed examples. I had to understand the patterns of ideas that are still making waves. I had to learn specific ways to include the components of SUCCESS in my life. The ideas had to be reiterated without boring anyone. All that is what “Made to stick” does. The book drives home the importance of each component of their SUCCESS formula by using the same formula to explain each component. Filled with fascinating researches, and deep insights, it is entertaining apart from the value add, just like a good Toastmasters speech.

So why read “Made to stick” if you already have the CC Manual from Toastmasters International? Because, this book is about creating simple concrete credible emotional stories with unexpected twist. Don’t you want to create such stories?

Here is the link to a mindmap of this book if you aren't patient enough to read the entire book. But this mind map is just an ordinary glue, you ought to read the entire book to know what is super glue. 

 http://drbakker.nl/made-to-stick-summary-mindmap/