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Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die | 
 enlarge | Authors: Chip Heath, Dan Heath
Publisher: Random House
Category: Book
List Price: CDN$ 28.00
Buy New: CDN$ 14.12
You Save: CDN$ 13.88 (50%)
New (19) Used (6) Collectible (1) from CDN$ 14.12
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 95
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.6 x 1.3
ISBN: 1400064287
Dewey Decimal Number: 302.13
EAN: 9781400064281
ASIN: 1400064287
Publication Date: January 2, 2007
Availability: Usually ships within 1 - 2 business days
Condition: Ships from US, Duties and taxes are responsibility of purchaser. Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
Communicate June 7, 2008
Gordon R. Galvin (Canada)
Tremendous book,
I have taken to quoting it as well having employed it in my day to day business. I developed my company's raison d'etre by following the recommendation and allthough I always used story telling as a way to get my points across I no longer feel embarrased about being hokey or "rube-ish"
Frankly this is the only book I have read (and re-read) in years which I can truly state made changes to my life.
The art and science of devising ideas that have impact and endurance January 17, 2008
Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is one of the most entertaining as well as one of the most thought-provoking and informative books I have read in recent years. Chip Heath and his brother Dan examine an especially important challenge to everyone who struggles to formulate and then communicate ideas that "stick": That is, ideas that "are understood and remembered, and have a lasting impact - they change your audience's opinions or behavior." Extensive research indicates that each of us receives several thousand messages each day from various print and electronic media as well as from those with whom we have direct contact. These competing messages create "clutter" that is increasingly more difficult to penetrate.
Others have already explained why they hold this book in high regard. Here are three reasons of mine. First, the Heaths brilliantly explain how to nurture ideas that will succeed by penetrating the clutter and then sticking in a "noisy, unpredictable, chaotic environment." They stress the importance of simplicity (i.e. "finding the core of the idea"), of surprise to attract attention and then interest to keep that attention, of concreteness ("language is often abstract, but life is not abstract"), of credibility (hence the importance of verifiable details), of emotion (i.e. making people care), and of storytelling that provides stimulation (knowledge about how to act) and inspiration (motivation to act). The Heaths' own explanation of all this "sticks" because it possesses the same qualities to which the acronym SUCCESs refers: their explanation is guided and informed by Simple Unexpected Concrete Credible Emotional Stories.
Also, I greatly appreciate the Heaths' use of real-world situations that demonstrate why some ideas "stick" and most others don't. For example, in Chapter 5, the Heaths examine efforts to reduce litter in Texas. The state was spending $25-million a year on cleanup and costs were increasing 15% a year. Efforts to encourage better behavior (such as use of "Please Don't Litter" signs and roadside trash cans marked "Pitch In") weren't working because they weren't effective as appeals to emotion. What to do? How and why "Don't mess with Texas" stuck is best revealed within the narrative. My point now is that this and dozens of other examples give a stickiness to the Heaths' key points. Again, how they organize and present their material penetrates the clutter that (at last count) 432,367 books on communication offered by Amazon have helped to create...and that number does not include seminars, workshops, CD, DVDs, Web sites, and articles.
Key Point: Whether devising a campaign to eliminate litter or writing a book about penetrating clutter, ideas must "stick" to have any visibility and "traction" to have any impact. I agree with Thomas Edison: "Vision without execution is hallucination."
My third reason is an entirely personal one: I like to be entertained while reading a non-fiction book about effective communication. The Heaths share their insights with a light, almost playful touch. They seem to have a robust sense of humor. They not only know their stuff, they thoroughly enjoy sharing what they have learned. And they constantly cite sources that have helped them to increase their understanding of "why some ideas survive and others die." Three in particular are worth noting here: Robert Cialdini on the importance of using mysteries to reach "a higher level of unexpectedness," Robert McKee on the importance of using curiosity to fill the intellectual need to answer questions and close open patterns, and Gary Klein on how stories "illustrate causal relationships that people hadn't recognized before and highlight unexpected, resourceful ways in which people have solved problems." I highly recommend Cialdini's Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, McKee's Story: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of Screenwriting, and Klein's Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions and more recent The Power of Intuition: How to Use Your Gut Feelings to Make Better Decisions at Work.
I wholly agree with Chip and Dan Heath that, contrary to what many people may believe, almost anyone can craft ideas that make a difference. "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." In this volume, the Heaths share all they have learned about how to do that. To paraphrase Henry Ford, whether you think you can or think you can't...you're right.
Get Your Story Straight And Revolutionize Your Marketing October 5, 2007
Glenn Simon Inc (Edmonton, Alberta / Tochigi, Japan)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Jake, a young entrepreneurial friend of mine in the IT industry , was not seeing the results he expected from numerous and inventive marketing strategies. He had tried online, print and direct marketing with marginal results. His business wasn't faltering but wasn't soaring either. So after a slew of marketing books he came across this one- and it was all I was hearing about from him until I read it myself and the light bulb clicked.
Just like you were interested in Jake's story other people like stories, they want to relate to you and your product but if they can't they will find a company that they can relate to.
Chip and Dan Heath give great examples every chapter on how to improve your "Stickiness" with simple strategies. The most important being their coined,
"SUCCES" acronym:
S simple - don't lose your core message in a lot of pomp and circumstance
U unexpected - make your idea jump out and grab people's attention
C concrete - keep it easy to grasp vs. mind boggling statistics or huge numbers
C credible - is your idea believable?
E emotional - people react to emotion and it creates an empathetic bond
S stories - story telling is an age old form of communication
I have been able to use "Made To Stick" concepts in my business with great results. I used to feel that stories in real estate investing wouldn't interest anyone but I knew from the book that stories were useful, if not crucial, in creating and growing a business. Now by using my customer's concrete feedback blended with their credible testimonials and sprinkled with a little emotion I am able transmit their core experience (what they got out of working with us an how it translated to their bottom line) to reach a greater audience.
Changed the way I present to clients September 26, 2007
Rodger R. Banister (Victoria, BC Canada)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
I work in advertising and I have never before read a book that so elegantly describes what we aspire to do when we create ads - we circumvent people's guessing DNA. After reading this book I was inspired to change the way I presented a creative concept to a client. Instead of walking through the benefits of the creative - design, style, simplicity, etc.. I walked in the room and did the unexpected - I told them their organization wasn't progressive enough to embrace our concept (which, by the way, was the gist of the creative). In effect, I circumvented their guessing DNA and got their attention, which is what the ads were designed to do. The presentation went off without a hitch and the client loved the idea. This book also served notice to our team to find the most poignant meaning in the facts (great example featuring Nora Ephron in journalism school).
This is a fantastic book for any executive who ever thinks she will ever inspire her workforce by issuing a statement that reeks of corporate-speak (i.e. managing the cost infrastructure to ensure profitability through multiple verticals, etc..), instead of keeping things simple - not dumbing down, but simple. Take it from a guy whose livelihood relies on keeping things simple - it's the most difficult thing to do.
Great read.
 Carrying the Ball March 31, 2007
Robert McInnis (Calgary, Alberta Canada)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
The brothers Heath pick up the ball from Malcolm Gladwell's " The Tipping Point" and run with the stickiness idea. They score a touchdown with the synthesis of varying disciplines and the concise practical examples that they use.
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