In an excellent interview in The McKinsey Quarterly, Professor Chip Heath states that sticky ideas must be simple, concrete and use stories.
Chip Heath says simplicity is the hardest concept to grasp. He gives the example of a non-profit organisation having eight core values when research has shown that even a few good choices can paralyse people and prevent them from making a decision. He says Bill Clinton had only one guiding message in his presidential campaign: 'It's the economy, stupid'.
As well as being simple, messages have to be concrete. He says: 'Take an abstract message like "Maximise stakeholder value". What should one of your employees do tomorrow to make that happen?'
Far better to use a story. Chip Heath gives the example of a FedEx employee who couldn't open a pickup box on his route as he'd left the key behind in the office. His deadline was tight and so he unbolted the whole box with a wrench — he knew he could open the box back in the office.
Chip Heath goes on to say messages are often abstract because of the 'curse of knowledge'. When we know a lot, it's hard for us to imagine what it's like not to have that knowledge.
So if you want your message to stick, make sure your ideas share the properties of sticky ideas — simplicity, concreteness and stories.
I recommend that you read the whole interview at http://tinyurl.com/29ycr2 and subscribe to The McKinsey Quarterly at www.mckinseyquarterly.com.
posted by Unknown @ 7:19 PM
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