We have spent the majority of the summer re-reading Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. While I didn’t take the book to the beach, I did take it to the porch! As with other re-reads, the content of the book has found its way into my writing and consulting practice. In the case of Made to Stick, several ideas and examples have made their way into my essays on critical thinking. The two themes work well together. As you consider sticky ideas you need a framework to test their veracity.
The first point I would like to make about this read of the book is that it is useful. It was then and it is now. Made to Stick provides significant advice for crafting messages so they resonate with your intended audience. Marketers want their messages to go viral – to impact consumers, voters, and just citizens of the world. As change agents the ideas and the six principles are important. As a change agent, if your calls to action generate more Netflix traffic than behavior changes, you have a problem. The more well-honed your communication is the higher your chance of success.
Continuing in the communication view, the assertion internal communication is a weak sibling of external communication is important to consider. The problem is real and sends a message about the importance of change. I recently heard that a local firm used a high school intern to edit their monthly agile newsletter. The newsletter may have been great but it is hard to think that anyone thought it mattered. When a change agent speaks or presents, they should prioritize communicating with their audience. If your idea is valuable, it is worth investing in to make it sticky.
2007 and 2024 light years apart. Made to Stick is from a kinder, gentler time. The internet has become an unfettered tool to craft viral messages for both good and bad. I won’t suggest that this is now a new problem, but rather that both the scale and sophistication have increased. Ten years ago having AI craft sticky deep fake videos was a dream (or nightmare). Today I can get ChatGPT to write the script in a few minutes. The ideas in Made to Stick are perfect for our sticky, viral, conspiracy-driven world. This isn’t Made to Stick’s fault. If I were to find fault, it is the lack of a discussion of ethics relating to using the six principles in the book. Perhaps ethics wasn’t something that interested the publisher. A discussion of ethics may be sexier today. Change programs need to make their message sticky, BUT they need to be cognizant of ethics.
Made to Stick provides powerful ideas and principles to make your communication stickier. Remember, you have agency, use that knowledge wisely and ethically.
Next week we begin, our read of Leadership Is Language: The Hidden Power of What You Say–and What You Don’t by L David Marquet https://amzn.to/45uegpV
Buy a copy of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die and then catch up on the re-read:
Week 1: Announcement and Logistics – https://bit.ly/46tn5Bz
Week 2: Introduction – https://bit.ly/46CLmp1
Week 3: Simple – https://bit.ly/3PZLWaq
Week 4: Unexpected – https://bit.ly/43zfkaB
Week 5: Concrete – https://bit.ly/3qcn1Gg
Week 6: Credible – https://bit.ly/3Yo9aJo
Week 7: Emotional – https://bit.ly/3QCAQbx
Week 8: Stories – https://bit.ly/3sbk2yp
Week 9: Epilogue – https://bit.ly/3P3jnIh
Week 10: Added Material – https://bit.ly/3KLv0Rq
