Made to Stick

Made to Stick Plot Summary

Introduction

Why do some ideas stick in our minds while others fade away? This question has profound implications for anyone who needs to communicate effectively, from educators and marketers to leaders and parents. The world is filled with ideas competing for attention, yet only a select few manage to survive, spread, and create lasting impact. Understanding the science behind memorable ideas isn't just an academic exercise—it's a practical skill that can transform how we share knowledge and inspire action. The framework presented here identifies six essential principles that make ideas "sticky": simplicity, unexpectedness, concreteness, credibility, emotion, and storytelling. These principles aren't arbitrary but are grounded in cognitive psychology and communication research. By mastering these elements, we can overcome the "Curse of Knowledge"—the cognitive bias that makes it difficult for experts to communicate effectively with novices. Whether you're trying to teach a complex concept, market a product, or inspire organizational change, these principles provide a systematic approach to crafting messages that not only capture attention but also drive understanding and action.

Chapter 1: Simple: Finding the Core of Your Message

Simplicity in communication isn't about dumbing down complex ideas—it's about finding their essence. When we talk about simple messages, we're referring to ideas that have been stripped to their core, eliminating everything that doesn't directly contribute to the central point. This process requires brutal prioritization, forcing communicators to determine what's truly essential and what can be left behind. The goal is to create messages that are both profound and compact, capturing fundamental truths in accessible ways. The concept of "Commander's Intent" from military strategy illustrates this principle perfectly. Rather than issuing complex battle plans that may become irrelevant as conditions change, commanders provide a clear, simple statement of the mission's goal. This allows soldiers to adapt to changing circumstances while keeping the ultimate objective in mind. Similarly, effective communicators distill their message to its essence, creating what could be called a "core idea"—a concept so fundamental that it guides all other aspects of communication. Finding simplicity often requires fighting against decision paralysis—the tendency to include too much information out of fear of leaving something important out. Southwest Airlines demonstrates this principle with their strategy statement: "We are THE low-fare airline." This simple declaration serves as a North Star for decision-making throughout the organization. When faced with choices about adding meals or assigned seating, employees can ask themselves whether these options support or undermine the core identity as the low-fare airline. Communicating simple ideas effectively often involves tapping into existing mental schemas—organized patterns of thought that help people process new information. For instance, explaining a pomelo as "a grapefruit that's bigger and less bitter" leverages what people already know about grapefruits to help them understand something unfamiliar. Disney uses this approach by referring to employees as "cast members," instantly communicating expectations about performance and customer service by drawing on people's understanding of theatrical roles. By finding the core message and anchoring it in familiar concepts, communicators can create ideas that are both simple to understand and powerful enough to guide action.

Chapter 2: Unexpected: Breaking Patterns to Grab Attention

The unexpected principle works by violating people's expectations, creating surprise that captures attention and generates interest. Our brains are prediction machines, constantly forecasting what will happen next based on established patterns. When those predictions are disrupted—when something unexpected occurs—we experience surprise, and our attention is immediately drawn to understand what happened. This cognitive response creates a perfect opportunity for communicators to insert important messages into the brief window when people are most receptive. Unexpectedness operates in two distinct phases: first capturing attention through surprise, then maintaining interest through curiosity. The initial surprise creates what psychologists call the "surprise brow"—that moment when our eyebrows rise as we encounter something that doesn't fit our mental models. This physiological response signals that our brain is collecting new information to update its understanding. However, mere surprise isn't enough for lasting impact. Effective communicators follow surprise with curiosity, creating what George Loewenstein calls a "knowledge gap"—the uncomfortable feeling that arises when we realize there's something we don't know but want to know. Creating effective knowledge gaps requires a delicate balance. The gap must be large enough to generate curiosity but not so large that it seems impossible to bridge. News programs understand this principle well, using teasers like "Which common household item might be killing you? Find out at eleven." Such statements create curiosity by highlighting a gap in knowledge that feels both important and bridgeable. Similarly, Professor Robert Cialdini used this approach in his astronomy class by beginning with a mystery: "What are Saturn's rings made of?" This question created a knowledge gap that motivated students to pay attention to the subsequent lecture. In real-world applications, unexpectedness can transform mundane messages into memorable ones. Consider how Southwest Airlines turns the typically ignored safety announcement into an engaging experience through humor and unexpectedness: "In the event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, oxygen masks will drop from the ceiling. If you're traveling with children, put your mask on first, then the child's. If you're traveling with more than one child, pick your favorite." This approach breaks the pattern of the standard safety briefing, capturing attention for an important message that might otherwise be ignored. By strategically violating expectations and creating curiosity, communicators can ensure their messages not only get noticed but also remembered.

Chapter 3: Concrete: Making Abstract Ideas Tangible

Concrete ideas are those that can be understood through our senses—they're tangible, specific, and grounded in the physical world. Abstraction, while valuable for experts, often creates barriers to understanding for newcomers to a subject. Concrete language helps people visualize concepts, making them easier to understand, remember, and discuss. This principle explains why fables and parables have endured for centuries—they communicate abstract moral lessons through concrete stories involving specific characters and situations. The power of concreteness becomes evident when we compare different approaches to teaching. In mathematics education, for example, Asian teachers often use concrete examples before introducing abstract concepts. Rather than beginning with the abstract formula for calculating the area of a rectangle, they might have students physically count the number of squares that fit inside different rectangles. This concrete foundation makes the abstract formula more intuitive when it's eventually introduced. Similarly, an accounting professor transformed her typically dry subject by teaching it through a concrete narrative about a student starting a business called "Safe Night Out," making abstract accounting principles tangible through a relatable story. Concreteness is particularly valuable when coordinating actions among diverse groups. When engineers and manufacturers need to collaborate, abstract specifications often lead to misunderstandings. However, concrete prototypes or examples provide a shared reference point that everyone can understand regardless of their technical background. This principle applies equally in everyday settings—asking someone to buy "white things" at the grocery store will likely lead to confusion, while a concrete request for "milk, white bread, and vanilla ice cream" provides clear direction. Perhaps the most powerful demonstration of concreteness comes from Jane Elliott's famous "Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes" exercise. To help her third-grade students understand the abstract concept of racial prejudice after Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, she divided the class based on eye color and subjected one group to discrimination. This concrete experience created such a profound understanding that students could recall specific details of the lesson decades later. By making abstract ideas concrete—whether through physical demonstrations, specific examples, or sensory-rich descriptions—communicators can create messages that stick in people's minds and guide their actions long after the initial exposure.

Chapter 4: Credible: Building Trust and Believability

Credibility is what makes people believe in an idea enough to change their thinking or behavior. Traditional approaches to establishing credibility often rely on authority figures or statistics, but these aren't the only—or even the most effective—methods available. The most powerful forms of credibility often come from within the message itself or from the audience's direct experience, rather than from external validation. External credibility typically comes from two sources: authorities and anti-authorities. While experts with impressive credentials can lend weight to an idea, anti-authorities—people who have earned credibility through their experiences rather than their positions—can be even more persuasive in certain contexts. Pam Laffin, a young mother dying from smoking-related emphysema, became a powerful anti-smoking advocate precisely because she wasn't a doctor or scientist but someone suffering the consequences of smoking firsthand. Her personal story carried more emotional impact and credibility than statistical warnings about health risks. Internal credibility comes from the details and structure of the message itself. Vivid, specific details signal that the communicator has deep knowledge of the subject. When a duo piano foundation described their music as having "the sound of an orchestra but the intimacy of chamber music," the concrete detail made their passion more credible than abstract statements about "preserving duo piano music." Statistics can also build credibility, but they're most effective when they illustrate relationships rather than standing alone. Comparing the likelihood of shark attacks to more common dangers like deer collisions (which are 300 times more likely to kill you) helps people contextualize risks in a way that raw numbers cannot. One particularly powerful form of credibility comes from what might be called "testable credentials"—claims that invite the audience to verify them personally. The famous Wendy's commercial asking "Where's the beef?" encouraged consumers to compare burger sizes themselves, while the NBA's rookie orientation program on HIV/AIDS created a powerful lesson by having players meet attractive women who later revealed they were HIV-positive. This approach transforms skeptical audiences into active participants in verifying the message. By incorporating these various forms of credibility—from authorities and anti-authorities to vivid details, contextualized statistics, and testable credentials—communicators can create messages that overcome skepticism and inspire belief.

Chapter 5: Emotional: Making People Care About Your Ideas

Emotional engagement is what transforms understanding into caring—and ultimately, into action. While credibility makes people believe, emotion makes them care enough to act on that belief. Research consistently shows that people are moved more by the individual than the abstract—a principle demonstrated by a study where people donated twice as much money to help "Rokia," a specific seven-year-old African girl, than they did to help "millions of children facing starvation in Africa." This "Mother Teresa effect" ("If I look at the mass, I will never act. If I look at the one, I will") highlights how emotional connection often requires focusing on individuals rather than statistics. Emotional appeals work through three primary channels: association, self-interest, and identity. Association links ideas to existing emotional responses—the way "relativity" has become associated with profound scientific insight or how the Positive Coaching Alliance transformed the diluted concept of "sportsmanship" into the more resonant "honoring the game." Self-interest appeals tap into people's natural concern for their own wellbeing, though research suggests we often underestimate the power of higher-level motivations. While basic appeals to physical comfort or security can be effective, people are frequently motivated by aspirations toward self-actualization or transcendence—as demonstrated by Floyd Lee, who transformed an Army mess hall in Iraq by defining his role not as "serving food" but as "being in charge of morale." Identity-based appeals may be the most powerful of all, connecting messages to people's sense of who they are or aspire to be. The "Don't Mess with Texas" anti-littering campaign succeeded where previous efforts failed because it framed proper disposal as an expression of Texan identity rather than environmental consciousness. This approach recognized that the target audience—young men in pickup trucks—would respond better to appeals to their identity as proud Texans than to environmental guilt. Similarly, firefighters rejected a free popcorn popper for watching a safety film because the offer conflicted with their identity as professionals who didn't need incentives to care about safety. The challenge in creating emotional appeals lies in overcoming the "Curse of Knowledge"—the difficulty experts have in remembering what it's like not to know their subject. When the Murray Dranoff Duo Piano Foundation struggled to explain why their art form mattered, they were trapped in expert terminology until someone asked, "Why would the world be less rich if duo piano music disappeared?" This question forced them to articulate the emotional core of their mission in terms outsiders could appreciate. By connecting ideas to individuals rather than abstractions, tapping into appropriate motivations, and aligning with people's sense of identity, communicators can create messages that not only inform but also inspire action.

Chapter 6: Stories: Inspiring Action Through Narrative

Stories represent perhaps the most powerful vehicle for making ideas stick because they combine multiple principles—they're concrete, emotional, and often unexpected—while adding the crucial elements of simulation and inspiration. Unlike abstract directives or statistics, stories provide mental rehearsal for how to act in similar situations and the motivation to do so. This explains why, when Stanford students gave one-minute persuasive speeches, their peers remembered 63% of the stories they heard but only 5% of the statistics—even though the average speech contained 2.5 statistics and only one in ten included a story. Stories function as mental simulations, allowing listeners to vicariously experience situations and learn appropriate responses. When Xerox technicians gather in the lunchroom to share stories about misleading error codes or unusual repair situations, they're not just socializing—they're building a collective knowledge base that helps everyone perform better. Research confirms this simulation effect: people who mentally rehearse events step-by-step (rather than just visualizing successful outcomes) are more likely to solve problems effectively, develop skills, and manage emotions. Stories essentially serve as "flight simulators for the brain," preparing us for real-world challenges. Beyond simulation, stories provide inspiration that motivates action. Analysis of inspirational stories reveals three recurring plots that consistently move people: Challenge plots (overcoming obstacles, like Jared losing 245 pounds on a Subway diet), Connection plots (bridging differences between people, like the Good Samaritan), and Creativity plots (solving problems through innovative thinking, like Edison's researchers who became known as "muckers" for their experimental approach). Each plot type triggers specific emotional responses and motivates particular kinds of action—Challenge plots inspire perseverance, Connection plots promote social bonds, and Creativity plots encourage innovation. Stories also function as "springboards" that help people envision new possibilities. When Stephen Denning wanted to convince World Bank executives to prioritize knowledge management, he didn't present abstract arguments but instead told a story about a health worker in remote Zambia finding crucial information on the CDC website. This concrete narrative allowed executives to see the potential of knowledge sharing in a way that statistics or conceptual arguments couldn't achieve. By providing both simulation (how to act) and inspiration (motivation to act), stories transform abstract ideas into actionable knowledge that sticks in memory and guides behavior long after the initial telling.

Summary

The essence of effective communication lies in creating ideas that are understood, remembered, and have lasting impact—ideas that stick. The six principles—Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional, and Stories—form a comprehensive framework for overcoming the "Curse of Knowledge" that often prevents experts from communicating effectively with others. When combined thoughtfully, these principles transform ordinary messages into ideas with extraordinary staying power. The ultimate value of this framework extends far beyond improving presentations or marketing campaigns. In a world overflowing with information but starving for wisdom, the ability to make important ideas stick is fundamental to progress in every domain of human endeavor. Whether you're a teacher hoping to inspire students, a leader guiding organizational change, or simply someone with an important message to share, mastering these principles enables you to cut through the noise and make a meaningful difference. The most profound ideas in the world remain powerless until they can be effectively communicated and understood—and that transformation is what the sticky idea framework ultimately makes possible.

About Author

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Chip Heath

Chip Heath is the professor of Organizational Behavior in the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.He received his B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M University and his Ph.D. in Psychology from Stanford.He co-wrote a book titled Switch How to Change Things When Change Is Hard with his brother Dan Heath.

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