Made to Stick

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The instant classic about why some ideas thrive, why others die, and how to improve your idea's chances-essential reading in the "fake news" era. 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.

Chip Heath is a professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business, teaching courses on strategy and organizations. He has helped over 450 startups hone their business strategy and messages. He lives in Los Gatos, California.    Dan Heath is a senior fellow at Duke University’s CASE center, which supports entrepreneurs fighting for social good. He lives in Durham, North Carolina.   Together, Chip and Dan have written three New York Times bestselling books: Made to Stick, Switch, and Decisive. Their books have sold over two million copies worldwide and have been translated into thirty-three languages, including Thai, Arabic, and Lithuanian. Their most recent book is The Power of Moments.

Introduction What Sticks? 3(22) Kidney heist Movie popcorn Sticky = understandable, memorable, and effective in changing thought or behavior Halloween candy Six principles: SUCCESs The villain: Curse of Knowledge It's hard to be a tapper Creativity starts with templates Simple 25(38) Commander's Intent THE low-fare airline Burying the lead and the inverted pyramid It's the economy, stupid Decision paralysis Clinic: Sun exposure Names, names, and names Simple = core + compact Proverbs The Palm Pilot wood block Using what's there The pomelo schema High concept: Jaws on a spaceship Generative analogies: Disney's ``cast members.'' Unexpected 63(35) The successful flight safety announcement The surprise brow Gimmicky surprise and ``postdictability.'' Breaking the guessing machine ``The Nordie who. . .'' ``No school next Thursday.'' Clinic: Too much on foreign aid Saturn's rings Movie turning points Gap theory of curiosity Clinic: Fund-raising Priming the gap: NCAA football Pocketable radio Man on the moon Concrete 98(32) Sour grapes Landscapes as eco-celebrities Teaching subtraction with less abstraction Soap-opera accounting Velcro theory of memory Brown eyes, blue eyes Engineers vs. manufacturers The Ferraris go to Disney World White things The leather computer Clinic: Oral rehydration therapy Hamburger Helper and Saddleback Sam Credible 130(35) The Nobel-winning scientist no one believed Flesh-eating bananas Authority and antiauthority Pam Laffin, smoker Powerful details Jurors and the Darth Vader toothbrush The dancing seventy-three year old Statistics: Nuclear warheads as BBs The human-scale principle Officemates as a soccer team Clinic: Shark attack hysteria The Sinatra Test Transporting Bollywood movies Edible fabric Where's the beef Testable credentials The Emotional Tank Clinic: Our flawed intuition NBA rookie camp Emotional 165(39) The Mother Teresa principle: If I look at the one, I will act Beating smoking with the Truth Semantic stretch and why unique isn't unique Reclaiming ``sportsmanship.'' Schlocky but masterful mail-order ads WIIFY. Cable television in Tempe Avoiding Maslow's basement Dining in Iraq The popcorn popper and political science Clinic: Why study algebra Don't mess with Texas Who cares about duo piano Creating empathy Stories 204(34) The day the heart monitor lied Shop talk at Xerox Helpful and unhelpful visualizations Stories as flight simulators Clinic: Dealing with problem students Jared, the 425-pound fast-food dieter Spotting inspiring stories The Challenge Plot The Connection Plot The Creativity Plot Springboard stories at the World Bank: A health worker in Zambia How to make presenters angry with stories EPILOGUE WHAT STICKS 238(15) Nice guys finish last Elementary, my dear Watson The power of spotting Curse of Knowledge again Pay attention, understand, believe, care, and act Sticky problems: symptoms and solutions John F. Kennedy versus Floyd Lee Making Ideas Stick: The Easy Reference Guide 253(6) Notes 259(18) Acknowledgments 277(4) Index 281