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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
informative
medium-paced
funny
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
I really, really liked this book. It is a clever and easily read book - written with the same philosophy and techniques that they are proposing for the reader - it seems like common sense, but really isn't. Made to Stick addresses why we remember or don't remember things we "learn," things that happen around us, or things we hear about. I intend to buy my own copy, mark it up, dog ear it, AND read their second book.
This is a decent book; a few of the concepts - styles of introducing gaps in knowledge and the idea of 'commander's intent' were quite useful. However, it too-often falls into the pop-psych mold of "Researchers from X tested whether X is X. The results were surprising" (no citation). The fact that the authors pay all too much credit to Gladwell makes it clear that they haven't woken up to the fact that many readers have grown beyond the enjoyment of such light science and the stratospheric concepts that authors try to wire together. I also wish that this sort of text would focus on one or a few industries or companies because the 'whoah, this applies to farming and web 2.0 companies' type of rhetoric is old and detracts from the storytelling by requiring too much setup and too little examination of each scene.
This is a decent book; a few of the concepts - styles of introducing gaps in knowledge and the idea of 'commander's intent' were quite useful. However, it too-often falls into the pop-psych mold of "Researchers from X tested whether X is X. The results were surprising" (no citation). The fact that the authors pay all too much credit to Gladwell makes it clear that they haven't woken up to the fact that many readers have grown beyond the enjoyment of such light science and the stratospheric concepts that authors try to wire together. I also wish that this sort of text would focus on one or a few industries or companies because the 'whoah, this applies to farming and web 2.0 companies' type of rhetoric is old and detracts from the storytelling by requiring too much setup and too little examination of each scene.
I didn't especially enjoy reading this book, but it's useful. I appreciate the summary charts at the end.
A stretch for a 4 star but it was a reasonably good attempt at teaching us why some ideas stick. It just lacked the details and practical depth I was hoping to learn.
The Amazon reviews of this book ascribe the authors' inspiration to Malcolm Gladwell's "The Tipping Point", a book I enjoyed immensely with the journeys into the human psyche - memory, emotion, decision, and behavior. I was sorely disappointed that I did not find any such parallels in "Made to Stick". Nonetheless, I think the authors attempt and do succeed at writing a book that is beyond an average business book, as it shows us how to use stories and anecdotes and real life scenarios to make our ideas intriguing and lasting in the eyes of others.
The reading style is simple and characteristic of a good standard business book. The material is generally abstract, with relevant case studies and examples woven in. This will not be the most unforgettable business book or the most enjoyable one to read but it is also not a bad read. The chapters are organized remarkably well for the subject matter, and the authors carefully take us through the six major qualities of what they claim makes an idea stick:
Simplicity: Strip your Idea down to the very core.
Unexpectedness: Your Idea must be new; it must vary from preconceived notions of similar ideas.
Concreteness: Use practical stories and real world applications to explain your Idea.
Credibility: You as the owner of the idea must be or develop credibility as a person.
Emotion: Appeal to emotion as you articulate your idea. It often makes people act.
Stories: Telling the Idea in a story will captivate people.
While the book presents the six qualities through examples and case studies, it does not delve into ways to make your own ideas "stick" - From a historical and anecdotal perspective, it is well-researched and smartly written. From practicality standpoint, I would have liked to see examples of the authors taking average ideas, and turning them into intriguing ones using a clear approach. All in all, a quick and good read.
The Amazon reviews of this book ascribe the authors' inspiration to Malcolm Gladwell's "The Tipping Point", a book I enjoyed immensely with the journeys into the human psyche - memory, emotion, decision, and behavior. I was sorely disappointed that I did not find any such parallels in "Made to Stick". Nonetheless, I think the authors attempt and do succeed at writing a book that is beyond an average business book, as it shows us how to use stories and anecdotes and real life scenarios to make our ideas intriguing and lasting in the eyes of others.
The reading style is simple and characteristic of a good standard business book. The material is generally abstract, with relevant case studies and examples woven in. This will not be the most unforgettable business book or the most enjoyable one to read but it is also not a bad read. The chapters are organized remarkably well for the subject matter, and the authors carefully take us through the six major qualities of what they claim makes an idea stick:
Simplicity: Strip your Idea down to the very core.
Unexpectedness: Your Idea must be new; it must vary from preconceived notions of similar ideas.
Concreteness: Use practical stories and real world applications to explain your Idea.
Credibility: You as the owner of the idea must be or develop credibility as a person.
Emotion: Appeal to emotion as you articulate your idea. It often makes people act.
Stories: Telling the Idea in a story will captivate people.
While the book presents the six qualities through examples and case studies, it does not delve into ways to make your own ideas "stick" - From a historical and anecdotal perspective, it is well-researched and smartly written. From practicality standpoint, I would have liked to see examples of the authors taking average ideas, and turning them into intriguing ones using a clear approach. All in all, a quick and good read.
I was able to make good use of the strategies in the Heath brothers' Switch, so it took me far too long to pick up their first book (especially since I own a copy of it!). Their format is simple but effective — give you the steps to achieve a goal (in this case, to share a message that people will remember), and for each step, break it down into several possible angles and share memorable stories to illustrate each point. It got me thinking about everything from how to better share assessment results to how our organization, despite being mission-focused, has a mission that's too squishy to ensure that any two workers faced with the same decision would make the same choice.
The downside to any book like this that's built around an explicit framework is that concepts and stories don't stay neatly in their boxes. It's not clear why, for example, re-framing a concept as a mystery falls under "Unexpected" and not "Story," or why adding tangible details to a story is an example of "Credible," not "Concrete." This meant that at times the book took too much of a stream-of-consciousness path, and the brothers didn't always follow their own advice to have a solid core. (I'm still not sure what definition of "Unexpected" is broad enough to encompass a textbook lesson that starts, "What do you think Saturn's rings are made out of?" and ends with the not-that-unexpected answer, "Ice-covered dust!")
That said, the stories throughout the book by themselves make the book worth it, because as the authors say, the story contains the moral, but the moral doesn't contain any stories. Even if this isn't a foolproof six-step guide to influencing others, it's bound to provide you with inspiration in one area or another. Also, the insight about the Curse of Knowledge seems obvious but is vital to keep in mind.
This book has enough solid takeaways that I'm happy to give it a place on my work shelf next to Switch, and I'll be thinking about what I can apply the next time I need to convey some information.
The downside to any book like this that's built around an explicit framework is that concepts and stories don't stay neatly in their boxes. It's not clear why, for example, re-framing a concept as a mystery falls under "Unexpected" and not "Story," or why adding tangible details to a story is an example of "Credible," not "Concrete." This meant that at times the book took too much of a stream-of-consciousness path, and the brothers didn't always follow their own advice to have a solid core. (I'm still not sure what definition of "Unexpected" is broad enough to encompass a textbook lesson that starts, "What do you think Saturn's rings are made out of?" and ends with the not-that-unexpected answer, "Ice-covered dust!")
That said, the stories throughout the book by themselves make the book worth it, because as the authors say, the story contains the moral, but the moral doesn't contain any stories. Even if this isn't a foolproof six-step guide to influencing others, it's bound to provide you with inspiration in one area or another. Also, the insight about the Curse of Knowledge seems obvious but is vital to keep in mind.
This book has enough solid takeaways that I'm happy to give it a place on my work shelf next to Switch, and I'll be thinking about what I can apply the next time I need to convey some information.
Insightful. The ideas in here are definitely easy to digest and I’ll likely keep in my back pocket as I go in my career. I did feel that there were so many case studies that they were hammering points in a bit hard at times but overall, a well written and informative book. (Also I had no idea that the “Don’t Mess With Texas” slogan came from an anti littering campaign?! Mad)