Made to Stick

The best book I've read this year is "Made to Stick" by  brothers Chip & Dan Heath.  

In this book they look at 6 key qualities (SUCCESs) that they believe makes some ideas 'stick' and become memorable.  The book isn't specifically about learning environments but is about effective communication - surely the basis of all learning!

I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone involved in education and learning, it's full of practical and usable suggestions.  If you click on the 'Resources' tab on the Made to Stick site you will find that you can download resources - including a guide for learning that sticks.

The book begins with a discussion about the 'Curse of Knowledge.'  I'm sure you've seen something like it and probably experienced it.  When you are explaining something that you know very well to another person who knows nothing about the subject.  The book uses a great example to explain how this works (I've since used this as an activity in training programs I've run - it works really well!)

It goes like this:

1. Ask each person in a group to think of a well-known song (but not tell others what it is). 
2. Explain that, one at a time, their task is to 'tap' the tune with a pen on the table.  All the others in the group  are 'listeners', their task is to guess the tune.  
3. After 'tapping', ask the 'tapper', "Do you think your tapping sounded about right?"  "Will people have guessed the tune?" (Most 'tappers' will believe that their tapped tune will be recognised!) 
4. Now ask the 'listeners', "Do you recognise the tune that was being tapped?"  With few exceptions the 'tapped' tune will not be recognised - even though the person tapping was sure it would be.  

This is a great example of the 'Curse of Knowledge'.  It is just like what happens in workplaces when a manager is explaining a task to staff.  The message the manager hears themselves telling staff is just like the tune they hear in their head when they are tapping - the complete tune (words and all).  The problem is that the staff ('listener') only hears the 'taps', they don't hear the full tune (and certainly no words) that the manager is playing in their head.  Result - misunderstanding!

'Made to Stick' explores 6 key qualities of ideas that are made to stick.  These 6 qualities are:

1. Simplicity: Stripping an idea down to its core concept.  Simple = Core + Compact. Everything can't be important - what is the priority?
2. Unexpectedness: Get attention, surprise people! For example, in Australia VirginBlue air stewards tell jokes, crack gags, you listen! Qantas are boring, I can't remember listening (except when they say the plane's late!)
3. Concrete: Provide concrete contexts.  Put people into stories. Make it real. Paint a mental picture of real things. Helps people understand and remember.
4. Credible: Make messages believable.  Use statistics in human scale, provide context. 
5. Emotional: Make people care, make them feel something. Appeal to self, WIIFM, what does it mean to them personally.   
6. Stories: Stories tell people how to act, stories inspire action, we have been told stories since we were born.  They create attention and allow listeners to remember.  Eg, Jared at Subway, most people remember how he lost weight only by eating Subway for every meal.  The story stuck, not the facts!

A new edition of the book has just been released with a new chapter that directly addresses learning. At this stage probably only available through Amazon.  In the meantime you can follow "Made to Stick" ideas at their blog.  Lots of practical and obviously sticky ideas!

And now you know where the 'sticky' in stickylearning comes from!