Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

Made to Stick’s most ambitious argument is that anyone can design an influential idea once they understand the factors that constitute stickiness. Chip and Dan Heath believe that the SUCCESs framework they built is robust enough to make any message memorable, as long as all the elements are applied properly. None of the steps to crafting a sticky idea are easy: the core idea needs to be simple and accessible; the expert must not fall prey to the “Curse of Knowledge”; the imagery needs to be concrete and believable; the story must have an element of unexpectedness and mystery; and the whole must evoke an emotional response. Nevertheless, the Heaths firmly believe that by revealing the anatomy of influential ideas, Made to Stick enables anyone with creativity to deliver powerful messages regardless of their personal level of expertise.

The Heaths structure Made to Stick according to the rules of their SUCCESs framework to demonstrate its accessibility and efficiency. Every chapter begins with a story that grabs the reader’s attention. Every chapter also includes an interactive idea clinic that encourages readers to test out the validity of the arguments proposed.