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Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die |
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List Price: $29.95
Our Price: $19.77
Your Save: $ 10.18 ( 34% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Random House Audio
Average Customer Rating:  
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PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
Binding: Audio CD
Dewey Decimal Number: 302.13
EAN: 9780739341346
Format: Audiobook
ISBN: 0739341340
Label: Random House Audio
Manufacturer: Random House Audio
Number Of Items: 7
Publication Date: 2007-01-09
Publisher: Random House Audio
Release Date: 2007-01-09
Studio: Random House Audio
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Editorial Reviews:
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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 public-health scares circulate effortlessly. Meanwhile, people with important ideas–business people, teachers, politicians, journalists, and others–struggle to make their ideas “stick.”
Why do some ideas thrive while others die? And how do we improve the chances of worthy ideas? In Made to Stick, accomplished educators and idea collectors Chip and Dan Heath tackle head-on these vexing questions. Inside, the brothers 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.”
In this indispensable guide, 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 is a book that will transform the way you communicate ideas. 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.
From the Hardcover edition.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Practical value no matter what you do
Comment: This delighful and insightful book has something for everyone. I was initially turned off by the gimmicky cover of this book, but after reading multiple great reviews, I decided to give it a try. The name of this book comes from Malcolm Gladwell's book, "The Tipping Point" (which I also enjoyed). I enjoyed and learned far more from this book than Gladwell's (it is not necessary to read Gladwell's book prior to this). The Heath brothers try to teach readers how to create (or more importantly spot) "sticky messages". The authors show us that sticky messages are not merely useful for advertisers, but can be important in many different situations we encounter in life. You will become a better communicator which can be useful in personal as well as professional situations.
There are lots of books out there that teach readers new concepts but what sets this one apart is that the authors try to keep it simple (as per their own recommendation) and come up with a system that readers can remember and apply years later. Their mnemonic for the six characteristics of a sticky message is SUCCESs:
Simple
Unexpected
Credible
Concrete
Emotion
Story
Interestingly, the other fantastic book that I read a while back that I continue to think about also had six components which I still remember. It was Cialdini's "Influence". The Heath brothers refer to Cialdini in their book.
I highly recommend this book. Besides its educational value, it will dazzle and entertain you.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Made for Success
Comment: "Made to Stick" is one of those rare books that just makes you look at everything you write in a fresh light. After reading it, I went and immediately rewrote several fundraising documents on which I had been working. The authors give you a method to cut through the muck and present your case in the most persuasive way. I'm going to have everyone in my department read it.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Get your communication to "stick" just like an urban legend
Comment: The authors try to identify what makes an idea "stick" and the learnings can be applied to most types of communication.
As a marketer, I didn't learn anything revolutionary new but it reminds you of what is important and I really like the checklist they came up with:
1. Simple
2. Unexpected
3. Concrete
4. Credible
5. Emotional
6. Story
The checklist comes to life by numerous examples in each category. For example, in the presidental campaign Ronald Reagan, instead of rambling of some economic stats, simply said: "ask yourself if you are better off today than 4 years ago". They recite a classic urban legend of the businessman who gets drugged and gets his kidney removed. They analyze this urban legend and it turns out it has all the ingredients that make something "stick".
The challenge in writing a book about sticky ideas is that it sets the readers' expectations very high about the book itself being written in a sticky way. In this respect, I think the authors are doing an OK job, but not great. At times, the book gets a bit slow (non-sticky!), but I would still recommend this book not only to marketers, but to anybody for whom communication is an important aspect of their work.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Veteran reviews Made to Stick by Heath.
Comment: Insightful take on timely marketing influences you may not have considered, or maybe not as focused as this book does. Good read for marketers who need to compete and marketers who seek the 'edge' needed to win in an ever more demanding market.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Like Cotton Candy: Sticky But Nearly All Fluff.
Comment: I enjoyed reading this book. I enjoyed it so much I almost bought their 'argument' until I realized it was nothing but empty fluff and repackaged common sense, but avoids any in depth insights. Its like a book about how so succeed in business said 'work hard and be honest'. well that's good advice, but is that the whole story? Nor do they ever use an example of truly challenging idea (just politically correct, safe ones) that have broken boundaries and REALLY challenged the status quo.
the book is much like Malcolm Gladwell's book (whom the authors admire) - almost designed to bring the authors lucrative speaking fees from big corporations but avoiding anything really controversial or challenging. They just re-enforce ideas we're comfortable with.
I went to the books website and posted a couple of comments on some of the authors posts - nothing nasty or inflammatory - just challenging some of their ideas. The comments were quickly deleted. I suspect the same thing has happened here. So are the authors using the same tactics they advocate? Or other methods to spread their ideas? Like suppressing ones that challenge theirs?
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