Made to Stick

Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

By: Chip Heath, Dan Heath

Narrated by: Charles Kahlenberg

Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The instant classic about why some ideas thrive, why others die, and how to make your ideas stick.

“Anyone interested in influencing others—to buy, to vote, to learn, to diet, to give to charity or to start a revolution—can learn from this book.”—The Washington Post

Mark Twain once observed, “A lie can get halfway around the world before the truth can even get its boots on.” His observation rings true: Urban legends, conspiracy theories, and bogus news stories circulate effortlessly. Meanwhile, people with important ideas—entrepreneurs, teachers, politicians, and journalists—struggle to make them “stick.”

In Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath reveal the anatomy of ideas that stick and explain ways to make ideas stickier, such as applying the human scale principle, using the Velcro Theory of Memory, and creating curiosity gaps. Along the way, we discover that sticky messages of all kinds—from the infamous “kidney theft ring” hoax to a coach’s lessons on sportsmanship to a vision for a new product at Sony—draw their power from the same six traits.

Made to Stick will transform the way you communicate. It’s a fast-paced tour of success stories (and failures): the Nobel Prize-winning scientist who drank a glass of bacteria to prove a point about stomach ulcers; the charities who make use of the Mother Teresa Effect; the elementary-school teacher whose simulation actually prevented racial prejudice.

Provocative, eye-opening, and often surprisingly funny, Made to Stick shows us the vital principles of winning ideas—and tells us how we can apply these rules to making our own messages stick.

©2006 Chip Heath and Dan Heath (P)2007 Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Made to Stick summons plenty of brain science, social history, and behavioral psychology to explain what makes an idea winning and memorable—and the Heaths do the telling with beautiful clarity.”—The Christian Science Monitor

“Utterly compelling.”—Los Angeles Times

“Surprising and provocative.”—The New York Sun

Sticks to Everything

This is quickly becoming one of the most profound books I've ever read. I'm on the second reading. Not only is the "succes" formula extremely helpful in my job as a training content developer, but the concept can be applied to pictures and even behavior. Think about it. You want to make an impact, you make yourself stick by being the message. Even if you don't care about the concepts, read it just for the entertainment value. It's full of sticky stories.

Some good info but a long walk for a short drink..

Is there anything you would change about this book?

the use of analogies and stories to make the point was helpful but overall I found the book a little repetitive and uninspiring.

If you’ve listened to books by Chip Heath and Dan Heath before, how does this one compare?

I have not.

Did Charles Kahlenberg do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

I thought the narration was fine. Not particularly engaging or inspiring but quite functional.

Who do you think would benefit most from listening to Made to Stick?

People with very limited presentation or story telling skills.

I recommend this book to everybody who wants to improve their stories

It’s a really good book that guides you to understand why stories stick, the core of a story and how people have use this in their favor.

Changed my life

An amazing book with a profound lesson. A must read for anyone who is interested in making their ideas stick.

listened to it twice

I listened to this book twice...the second time at a much faster speed because I wanted to go back and review the highlights. the stories are great, but the second time I was looking for the bullet points. SUCCESS = simple, unexpected, creative, concrete, stories,...dang it! forgot the last one.

but you get the idea. if you've got a message people need to hear, this book will definitely teach you how to make it stick!

The epilogue was my favorite part on the second time through.

Sticky book!

The narrative is very rich, full with stories and insights. It is a very good read if you are trying to learn on how to communicate better.

It Stuck!

This interesting book elaborates on "The Tipping Point" by Gladwell and uses a similar writing style to get across its reasons why some ideas stick and why others don't. It's a good read for those who are interested in the psychology of marketing and even the concept of communication in general, but actual marketers will find it difficult to get a lot of practical methods out of the book.

The book starts off with those ubiquitous urban legends we've all heard (i.e. the man who gets his kidney stolen from a stranger and ends up in a bath tub full of ice and a tube sticking out of his back), and explains why that idea sticks and why others don't. The Heath brothers go on to describe why numerous ideas have stuck in the collective mind: "It's the economy stupid," "Where's the beef," the pocket radio, and that movie popcorn has a more saturated fat than you want to know.

The heath brothers' survey of successful ideas is wide-reaching (a great deal more than Gladwell's entertaining book), and the reader will recognize most of the case studies, which aids their main idea of stickiness.

The authors put the stickiness factors in a nice little acronym (S.U.C.C.E.S), though the ideas those letters represent didn't stick with me (sorry) and gave a nice overview in the end with a real-life troubleshooting guide that sums up their ideas. It's a great read for everyone, not just marketing professionals.

profound idea-good book

most profound book i have listened to over this year! Years of research is compacted into this mind-opening book. If you really want your ideas to stick, buy this book and follow the concept whole heartedly. I like it so much i even got a print copy of it. and that will stay as my guide all thru my working life.

Read for work

Found some parts of the book extremely boring and hard to get through. The examples used where sticky and the main idea of the book came across very clear.

Eye-opening and impactful

I enjoyed listening to Heath & Heath explain the nuances of persuasion and why some ideas stick and why others don't. This can well help us in devising methods and tools to improve our messaging, their effectiveness and adoption. Or perhaps I should just say, stickiness.