Continuing some of the work laid out in Malcom Gladwell’s The Tipping Point, Made to Stick seeks to understand why some ideas live on in peoples minds for years, and others fade away.
The Curse of Knowledge
Mysterious – Get people thinking, what’s going to happen next? How is this going to end?
Unexpected – Enclave Mini Van – Buckle Up
Personal –
The book’s outline follows the acronym “SUCCES” (with the last s omitted). Each letter refers to a characteristic that can help make an idea “sticky”:
- Simple – find the core of any idea
- Unexpected – grab people’s attention by surprising them
- Concrete – make sure an idea can be grasped and remembered later
- Credible – give an idea believability
- Emotional – help people see the importance of an idea
- Stories – empower people to use an idea through narrative
The book then goes to mention examples like: Simple: Southwest Airlines, whose motto is “THE low fare airline”.[1] If a steward proposed serving chicken salad in the Texas–Vegas route, thinking about that motto helps one decide that this is not a good idea. Other example: Proverbs, which encapsulate wisdom in short sentences. The book mentions many case studies of successful teachers and professionals around the world such as Diana Virgo of Loudoun Academy of Science as a mathematics teacher.
