Recent Read: Made to Stick

“Made to Stick” by Chip and Dan Heath unpack some of the principles explaining why some ideas thrive while others die. These principles include simplicity, unexpectedness and credibility among others. A few thoughts on these below:

Simplicity:

“To strip an idea down to its core, we must be masters of exclusion. We must relentlessly prioritize. Saying something short is not the mission – sound bites are not the ideal. Proverbs are the ideal. We must create ideas that are both simple and profound.”

Chip and Dan Heath explain that this exercise involves discarding a lot of great insights to let the most important insight shine. Intelligence further complicated this effort as smart people who appreciate nuance attempt to wax poetic on complexities rather than simplifying them.

Guilty! I’ve been working on adapting my communication style to simplify the key message and present it first. A popular military practice is to write “BLUF” (bottom line up front) at the start of a message, and I’ve found this to be a helpful reminder to simplify and focus.

Unexpectedness:

“We need to violate people’s expectations. We need to be counterintuitive… But surprise doesn’t last. For our idea to endure, we must generate interest and curiosity.”

Given the human tendency to identify patterns and routinely make guesses about future events, making these cognitive machines fail is an effective means of getting attention but may not keep it. The solution is to help the audience refine their machines once they have failed.

It’s not magic. Creating mysteries by filling key knowledge gaps and addressing overconfidence are among the many tactics. It’s also not easy. I’ve tried and failed repeatedly in presentations to deliver genuinely surprising moments and converting those to deliver a deeper message.

Credibility:

“Sticky ideas have to carry their own credentials… When we’re trying to build a case for something, most of us instinctively grasp for hard numbers. But in many cases, this is exactly the wrong approach.”

Chip and Dan Heath highlight that beliefs are incredibly difficult to influence in part given that they are built from personal learning and social relationships that are comparatively viewed as honest and trustworthy while other sources that rely on their status win no credibility points.

I’ve observed over the last several years a paradoxical shift from status to relationships as I’ve continued to grow as an emerging business leader. It’s been a bit of a coming-of-age experience for me to recognize that credibility is in the agency of others.