STICK

Introduction

There are some good ideas that are easily forgotten while other not-so good ideas remain stuck with us for years. This book provides us with strategic ways to create “sticky” ideas which have a long-term impact.

But first, let's understand the problem of the “Curse of Knowledge”. This could be best explained through a study on the “tapper and listeners game”. The tapper was asked to tap out a song’s rhythm without telling the listener the song's name. The listener was asked to decipher the song. The result was that the listener almost always failed to identify the song.

Interestingly, the tapper predicted that the listeners would be able to predict the song. They expected people to understand what they were trying to communicate. But the person hearing the tap had no idea about the song as they could not hear the song inside the other person's head.

The curse of knowledge occurs when we assume that others have the background information about what we are trying to communicate. It means that we have framed the problem and understand its relevance and assume the same for others.

To make ideas stick or to identify “stick-worthy” ideas, the Heath brothers propose 6 principles. These principles can be summed up with an acronym: SUCCESs.

S - Simple

U - Unexpected

C - Concrete

C - Credible

E - Emotional

S - StorieS

Simple

The first quality of a sticky idea is simplicity. For an idea to be interesting and remembered for a longer time, it should be as simple as possible for an average person to understand.

The goal is to trim the idea to the essential core without losing the meaning of the idea. Find the core concept of the idea and share it in a compact form.

An analogy for keeping the idea simple can be seen in the military Commander’s Intent (CI). The CI is a simple distilled statement of the commander’s order. Rather than an elaborated plan on how to break the enemy, the commander’s intent could be “break the enemy”, stripped of all the details.

Similarly, journalists write short, crisp, and attention-seeking headlines for an article. They use the “inverted pyramid” technique: tell the most important points first, then tailor, and then add finer details. This forces prioritization and helps simplify the idea.

South-west Airlines, a successful airline, has the slogan “The low-fare airlines”, hence making a decision on whether to add a new costlier meal on board is out of the question.

Unexpected

For effectively communicating the idea, there are two parts:

Getting the attention of the listener

Keeping it - By invoking interest

Getting attention

To attract the attention of the listeners, you need the element of surprise. We, humans, like to think in patterns. By introducing an element of surprise in the message, we can break the pattern.

Surprise de-rails our brain from the auto-pilot mode into the manual mode where the idea receives 100% attention.

Example:

A TV commercial showcased a family inside a new minivan. The advert continues with the car moving in the street while the narrator explains its features. Suddenly a speeding car collides with the minivan resulting in a terrifying situation. Didn’t see that coming, right? This ad was created by the transportation department to spread awareness about the seat belt.

Keeping it

For great ideas, it is important to keep the attention after getting them. A great way to retain interest is through a technique called Mystery story. Mystery stories retain the reader's interest by introducing an element of “what happens next”. This generates a curiosity gap. It's our insatiable need to know the answers. Television news channels use this concept really well. A presenter might lead with, 'There's a new drug sweeping the teenage community, and it may be in your medicine cabinet! The story after these adverts.' This creates an itch that we can’t resist.

If you want your ideas to be stickier, you’ve got to break someone’s guessing machine and then fix it.

'Before a message can stick, the audience has to want it.'

Concrete

Concrete ideas are easy to understand and hence easy to remember.

We all remember the story of the fox and the grapes. The fox tries to reach out to the grapes but couldn’t and finally concludes that the grapes are sour. This is one of Aesop's fables. For some 2500 years, these are still remembered vividly because they provide a concrete image of the concept.

An idea is concrete if it can be explained and visualized by us. A V-8 engine is concrete; 'high-performance' is abstract.

It’s easier to visualize ‘bicycles’ and ‘avocado’ and remember than ‘justice’ and ‘personality'.

Abstraction hides the details and adds complexity whereas concreteness paints a vivid mental picture that is easier to understand and remember.

Credible

To persuade people into believing an idea, the idea should feel credible. If it's not credible, it won’t persist for long. Believable ideas have credibility.

People believe in ideas under the influence of their family, personal experiences, religious beliefs, aspirational or authoritative figures. If an idea doesn’t have any authority to testify for it, the Idea can gain credibility in the following ways:

Anti-Authority

Example: Spreading awareness about the dangers of smoking by the experiences of a dying smoker gives the message credibility.

Or, consider the scientist who could not get anyone to believe bacterias cause ulcers: He swallowed the bacteria himself and demonstrated his theory.

Concrete details

Most of the time it's difficult to get some external authority to vouch for the idea. Hence the idea should have internal credibility. A person’s knowledge of details is generally good evidence of his or her expertise.

Details boost credibility.

Using statistics

Statistics are not always useful. But combining statistics with the context and appropriate comparison, they become more impactful.

For example: instead of asking people to donate $100 to provide medicine to the underprivileged, tell them that they can save lives for the price of a cup of coffee for a month.

Statistics should be used as input, not as output.

Sinatra Test

Frank Sinatra's song New York, New York has a line 'if I can make it there, I can make it anywhere.'

Example: If a security company gets a security contract for Fort Knox Prison, they get extraordinary recognition in the security domain. Getting this contract boosts their credibility.

Emotion

Adding an “emotional” factor to your idea is crucial to make it stick. If people care about your idea, they will act.

Example:

In a study to raise funds for starving African children, the researchers presented two different stories to 2 groups.

The first group presented statistics demonstrating millions of children dying because of starvation. To the second group, they presented an image of a child who could be saved by the donated funds. The first story appealed to the analytical part of the brain, whereas the second story appealed to the emotional part of the brain. The second story garnered more interest amongst the donors and raised more funds.

If you wish people to take action based on your message, it has to appeal to their emotions.

Mother Teresa famously said, 'If I look at the mass, I will never act. If I look at the one, I will.'

Stories

Stories evoke emotions and inspire actions. Stories burn the idea into the mind of the listener. Stories involve 2 parts:

Simulation (knowledge on how to act)

Inspiration (motivation to act)

Example: Subway’s marketing team in one of their most successful ad campaigns told a story of a man named Jared. Jared was struggling with obesity. He tried a sandwich from Subway and developed a taste for it. After 3 months, he lost nearly 100 pounds by eating 2 sandwiches a day.

There are three types of story plots – challenge, connection, and creativity plot.

Challenge Plot

The main character overcomes challenges and triumphs over adversities. This inspires people and gets them to take action.

Connection Plot

The protagonist develops a relationship that bridges some racial, ethical or religious gap. These inspire us in social ways. It helps grow tolerance and become empathic.

Creativity Plot

When someone makes a mental breakthrough solving a complex problem using innovative ways. This motivates us to tackle the problems using a fresh perspective.