Made to Stick

But when the idea stuck . . .
250
E P I L O G U E

---

The SUCCESs checklist is intended to be a deeply practical tool.
It’s no accident that it’s a checklist and not an equation. It’s not hard,
and it’s not rocket science. But neither is it natural or instinctive. It re-
quires diligence and it requires awareness.
This book is filled with normal people facing normal problems
who did amazing things simply by applying these principles (even if
they weren’t aware that they were doing it). These people are so nor-
mal that you probably won’t even recognize their names when you
see them. Their names aren’t sticky, but their stories are.
There was Art Silverman. He was the guy who stopped a nation
from eating obscenely unhealthy movie popcorn. He laid out a full
day’s worth of fatty foods next to a tub of popcorn and said, “This is
how much saturated fat is in this snack.” A normal person with a nor-
mal job who made a difference.
There was Nora Ephron’s journalism teacher. Poor guy, we didn’t
even mention his name. He told his class, “The lead is ‘There will be
no school next Thursday.’ ” And in that one sentence he rewrote his
students’ image of journalism. He inspired Ephron—and doubtless
many others—to become journalists. A normal person with a normal
job who made a difference.
What about Bob Ocwieja? No chance you remember his name.
He’s the Subway franchise owner who served sandwiches to a fat guy
every day and spotted a great story in the making. Because of Ocwieja
the hugely successful Jared campaign was discovered and launched.
A normal person with a normal job who made a difference.
Then there was Floyd Lee, the leader of the Pegasus mess hall in
Iraq. He defined his role as being about morale, not food service. He
got the same supplies as everyone else, but soldiers flocked to his tent
and his pastry chef started describing her desserts as “sensual.” A nor-
mal person with a normal job who made a difference.
And there was Jane Elliott. Her classroom simulation of racial
prejudice is still etched in the minds of her students more than
E P I L O G U E
251

---

twenty years later. It’s not a stretch to say that she came up with an
idea that prevented prejudice, like a vaccine. A normal person with a
normal job who made a difference.
All these people distinguished themselves by crafting ideas that
made a difference. They didn’t have power or celebrity or PR firms or
advertising dollars or spinmeisters. All they had were ideas.
And that’s the great thing about the world of ideas—any of us,
with the right insight and the right message, can make an idea stick.
252
E P I L O G U E

---

What Sticks?
Kidney heist. Halloween candy. Movie popcorn. 
Sticky = understandable, memorable, and effective in changing 
thought or behavior. 
Six principles: SUCCESs. 
Simple Unexpected Concrete Credible Emotional Stories.
The villain: Curse of Knowledge
. It’s hard to be a tapper. 
Creativity starts with templates: Beat the Curse with the SUCCESs
checklist.
1. Simple
Find the core
.
Commander’s Intent. Determine the single most important thing: “THE
low-fare airline.” Inverted pyramid: Don’t bury the lead. The pain of deci-
sion paralysis. Beat decision paralysis through relentless prioritization:
“It’s the economy, stupid.” Clinic: Sun exposure. Names, names, names.
Share the core
.
Simple = core + compact. Proverbs: sound bites that are profound.