Book Report 3: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

In these two sections of the Book “Made to Stick Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die.” The authors explained how and why to make an idea concrete and credible.

            The first aspect they talk about is concreteness. To make an idea stick one must not talk about the idea in the abstract and instead make a n idea solid and concrete, so the listener can picture it in his or her mind. The used several examples in the book to explain this aspect. One of them involved a fictional manufacturing company. There are engineers and manufactures working there. It is up to the engineers to make blueprints of the product and it is up to the manufactures to put it together. When there is a problem putting the product together (like if a bolt or screw does not fit properly with the engineers design), the manufactures complain to the engineers that there is something wrong with their design. In response the engineers would add more to the blueprint to show where this piece goes, but all of this scribbling is just nonsense to the manufactures. The manufactures just want the engineer to come down to the floor to physically show where it goes. As one can see the problem with the situation is that the engineers are thinking abstractly while the manufactures can only understand concreteness.  In a small group it is important to always speak in the concrete so no miscommunication occurs. One can also look at Walmart’s new uniform change to show this aspect of making an idea sticky. They want to tell everybody that they are no longer the lowest quality discount store and that now they are on the level of Target and other stores like Target. Walmart can say whatever it wants but that does not mean people are going to believe it. So Walmart is upgrading their uniforms to show everybody that their declaration is happening and you can see it.  These uniforms also emphasize their idea of offering friendly customer service. The idea itself is very abstract and simply stating that will mean almost nothing. These uniforms are the physical representation of that idea. The colors on the uniform look friendly (nice bright colors) and the new uniforms show the professionalism of the person wearing the uniform.

            The next aspect in making an idea sticky is credibility. The person conveying the idea must seem credible to the listeners to make an idea stick. Listeners are more apt to believe an idea if an expert or someone greatly affected by the idea tells them. One of the examples in the book show how a small team of researchers can be right but without credibility one’s idea will not stick. This group of interns working at a medical form discovered strange bacteria in stomach ulcers. They filed their discovery but no one believed them because they were nobodies. Feeling frustrated and angry the leader swallowed a whole jar of these bacteria. Soon after he did that his stomach soon became inflamed and red. He them took antibiotics and he better relatively quickly. A mare credible doctor saw these findings and with his credibility they were able to prove a direct link with stomach ulcers and this strange bacteria. In a small group it important to get credible sources so the small group’s information is believable.

            While presenting an idea it is important to make sure that one’s idea is concrete and that it comes from a credible source. Without these two things an idea will not stick.