A Look At What Makes Ideas Stick And Spread

What is it that makes one idea spread like wildfire while another equally good idea remains stagnant?  Bestselling Authors (and brothers) Chip Heath and Dan Heath, introduce their book Made To Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die with this story:

A friend of a friend of ours is a frequent business traveler.  Let's call him Dave.  Dave was recently in Atlantic City for an important meeting with clients.  Afterward, he had some time to kill before his flight, so he went to a local bar for a drink.  He'd just finished one drink when an attractive woman approach and asked if she could buy him another.  He was surprised but flattered.  Sure, he said.  The woman walked to the bar and brought back two more drinks -- one for her and one for him.  He thanked her and took a sip.  

 And that was the last thing he remembered.  Rather, that was the last thing he remembered until he woke up, disoriented, lying in a hotel bathtub, his body submerged in ice.  He looked around frantically, trying to figure out where he was and how he got there.  Then he spotted the note:  DON'T MOVE.  CALL 911.  

 A cell phone rested on a small table beside the bathtub.  He picked it up and called 911, his fingers numb and clumsy from the ice.  The operator seemed oddly familiar with his situation.  She said, "Sir, I want you to reach behind you slowly and carefully.  Is there a tube protruding from your lower back?" 

Anxious, he felt around behind him.  Sure enough, there was a tube.  The operator said, "Sir, don't panic, but one of your kidneys has been harvested.  There's a ring of organ thieves operating in this city, and they got to you.  Paramedics are on their way.  Don't move until they arrive.

You've just read one of the most successful urban legends of the past fifteen years...The Kidney Heist is a story that sticks.  We understand it, we remember it, and we can retell it later.  And if we believe it's true, it might change our behavior permanently -- at least in terms of accepting drinks from attractive strangers.

That was certainly a long introduction to pique your interest in this book, but the fascinating tale draws you in immediately, keeping your mind reeling with images with every twist and turn of the story.  This is the exact point the authors are making, that ideas (whether true or false) "stick" for a reason, and they invite you to explore principles they believe will help your ideas leave an impression on others. 

The authors go into the art of storytelling, is obviously a very successful way in presenting and passing along ideas, along with empathy and credibility, just to name a few.

What about you? What have you found to help make your ideas "stick?"

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