by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. This is a great guide book for anyone in the business of communication that it’s imperative what they communicate makes a difference.
Made to Stick is a guide on how to make your ideas stick. This means that your ideas are understood and remembered, and have lasting impact--they change your audiences opinions or behavior. The principle of "Sticky Ideas" include these traits: simple, unexpected, concrete, credible, emotional, and story. So the acronym is created "succes."
Using this as a system, creativity can be created systematically. Most non-creative people will find this helpful in formulating sticky ways to make their ideas grab a hold of others and stay. So they coined the phrase "systematic creativity." (Personally, I used this method when producing videos for companies. It creates effective unique twists through the process.)
Simple
Finding the core of the idea. Stripping the idea down to its most critical essence, eliminating the superfluous and tangential elements, weeding out the important and getting to the most important element of the idea. Getting from knowing the idea to effective sharing and achieving the idea's priorities.
So Simple = Core + Compact. Finding the most important, making it concise so it quickly zings through. Create clever metaphors and proverbs that hit home with depth and quickly.
Unexpected
This is what gets people's attention--which you must do. Surprise gets our attention; interest keeps our attention. Point out things people don't know. Find the knowledge gap. Propose you have a solution.
Concrete
Move from the abstract to the tangible, specific... in concept, common analogies work well. What makes something concrete is being able to examine something with your senses. V8 engine is concrete; "high performance" is abstract. Concrete foundations must be built... it is essential to teach abstract principles. Naturally, sticky ideas have concrete words and images. Create concrete images to see, and it can become memorable. More experienced/ educated people see more images than less experienced/educated people. So to be sticky their images must be reconstructed to the other level.
Memory works like Velcro.. the more loops that you can find hooks for, the stronger the memory. Find the loops, past experiences, and create hooks, relevant ideas, and stickiness increases proportionately.
Credible
What makes someone believe in you, your idea? Experts with extensive credentials; celebrities with their notoriety are viewed as authorities. But authority can be found through antiauthority ...someone with an experience that is true, honest, and trustworthy... can many times out perform authorities in credibility (such as, common people wit, exceptional experience, unsung heros).
Also, a person's good handle on details extends authority... especially details compelling and human, meaningful and support our core idea. Statistics work when a relationship is drawn within human, everyday context. And then making a cross over to a similar application or situation. "If it can make it here, it can make it there."
Emotions
For people to act, they got to care. Associate ideas with emotions that already exist. Tap what's already there. Don't over use or an idea will lose its kick. Use "uniquely," timely, sparingly. So an idea is uniquely associated. People must care about something to relate it to something they do care about. Appeal to self interest, their identities, to who they are now as well as the people they'll be like.
Story
Stories are powerful. They provide “simulation (knowledge about how to act) and inspiration (motivation to act)." Credible makes people believe, emotional makes people care, stories make people act. We play out mental simulations and re-enact them in real life. When we lead someone through the process, of mental simulation (via stories) they are more likely to re-enact the process again. Stories carry the concrete, emotion, credibility, suspense (the unexpected) and are simple to follow.
How do people spot (become drawn to) a great story. The art of spotting includes three plots: The challenge plot, the connection plot, the creativity plot.
People being drawn to the little guy who overcomes a great obstacle (challenge plot); two unlikely partners help each other (connection plot); someone went about to solve a problem in a most unusual way (creativity plot).
For an idea to stick it has to make your audience...
1. Pay attention (unexpected)
2. Understand, remember (concrete)
3. Agree/believe (credible)
4. Care (emotional)
5. Be able to act on it (story)
The Made to Stick easy reference guide.
1. Simple--find the core, share the core
2. Unexpected--get attention: surprise, hold attention: interest
3. Concrete--help people understand and remember, help people coordinate (find common ground)
4. Credible--help people believe, external credibility(authority, antiauthority--those who have been there); internal credibility (convincing details, relating statistics, cross over test)
5. Emotional--make people care, use power of association, appeal to self-interest, appeal to identity
6. Stories--stories as simulations (tell people how to act), stories as inspiration (give people energy to act).
More on Made to Stick at:
www.madetostick.com
Jesus was a master of the Made to Stick findings.
His message was simple... love God with all your heart, soul, mind and love your neighbor as much as you love yourself, and you will fulfill all the commandments. The Religious groups of His day made things very complex... they had just hundreds of commandments and laws in that no one could keep at all.
He used the unexpected. Put mud on and spit on eyes to heal blindness. He didn’t condemn a woman who lived a whoring lifestyle.
It was concrete...Whatever you do to the least you are doing to me. The least being the hungry, thirsty, strangers, prisoners, despicable. He gave attention to crooked accountants, rebels of the day, beggars, widowed women, little children.
He walked in credibility and walked with authority and antiauthority. Those who heard Him said He spoke with authority and wasn't like the scribes and religious show offs who delighted to wax eloquent in their speeches. As a common-looking person, from a simple family, Jesus’ lifestyle showed off true spectacular events, ideas and character.
"Beware of these teachers of religious law! For they like to parade around in flowing robes and love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces. And how they love the seats of honor in the synagogues and the head table at banquets. (Luke 20:46, NLT)
The prophets' predictions pointed to Jesus. The predictions came true with what He was doing. His many miracles proved He had authority from Heaven.
He cared with His emotions. He looked at the crowds and had compassion for them. Even fed them with a miracle by taking a family size meal and converting it into a meal for thousands. No one had a clue how He did it, but His compassion for the masses, which He saw as individuals, moved Him.
He was a spell-bound story teller. The art of a connection plot came through in the good Samaritan story..."A Jewish man was traveling on a trip from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.
By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.
Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, 'Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I'll pay you the next time I'm here.' "
(Luke 10: 30-35, NLT)
Samaritans were socially, polar opposites to the Jews.
They were flagrantly hostile towards each other. Luke records many parable-like stories that Jesus used to explain Spiritual principles so regular folks can get it.
Jesus has one more secret to add to the made to stick formula...that we all would have access to the very Spirit of God. That, through His Spirit, we can talk directly to other hearts of men without using words. This is a powerful bonus to life. Hidden in prayer, when we pray, and made real. We then see the results of this Power of Spirit coming out of others.
"And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven." Luke 24:49
This power has the same Power of God that created Heaven, earth and all the elements of the universe. We have access to this power. This power makes ideas stick in minds, stay in hearts and changes behaviors for ever. This stickiness is the most powerful glue we can use in making impact in all we are involved in... making ideas stick. Through prayer we can make ideas grab a hold, change attitudes, opinions.
Develop the Prayer Skill.
(See John 16 and also note:
"Purpose in Prayer" by E. M. Bounds; try a Google search on it.)
"Ask of Me and I will give you the nations" (Psalm 2:8)
declares the prophet David about God's heart for you.
Ask God and the Holy Spirit will respond in great Power.
Ask and The Spirit of God will work with you,
in alliance with you, as your every-minute walking partner
in all your times, events and moments of your day.
No comments:
Post a Comment