Book Review – Made to Stick

Image: Made to Stick by Lucy Lantz (CC BY-NC-ND)

4 out of 5 stars

Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath encapsulates what makes an idea “sticky” - in other words, understandable, memorable, and something people will act on. The authors claim that the stickiest ideas are simple, unexpected, concrete, credible, emotional stories. They back up this claim with real-life examples of sticky ideas that range from effectively conveying a company’s purpose to running a successful presidential campaign. They cover each sticky factor in depth in the six main chapters of the book. These chapters contain short sections called “Idea Clinics,” which contain examples of how to convert a normal message into a sticky one. These sections are very useful, as they encourage active participation from readers and teach you how to make everyday messages more effective.

Made to Stick emphasizes the fact that you don’t always have to invent a sticky idea. Oftentimes, you can spot them. They illustrate this with various examples of normal people identifying a sticky idea and changing the world with it. Another important concept in this book is “the Curse of Knowledge,” which is your change in perspective after learning a concept. You no longer remember what it was like to not know the concept, which results in confusion between teacher and student, presenter and attendee. Consider attempting to explain division to the average five-year-old. You would likely have no idea where to start. This is an analogy, albeit exaggerated, to the difficulty of communicating novel concepts to coworkers, students, or clients. Made to Stick explains how the Curse of Knowledge can be avoided, allowing people to communicate in a common language.

I enjoyed this book, both because it was written in a very engaging manner and because it has made me a more effective communicator. One of the main takeaways of Made to Stick is that you don’t have to be an eloquent speaker to be impactful. You don’t have to be charismatic or a creative genius (although those traits are certainly helpful) to be a good public speaker, presenter, teacher, or CEO. I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. Whether you are trying to teach algebra to high schoolers or running for office, Made to Stick provides indispensable tools.