Making Ideas Stick

Co-author of the book 'Made to Stick' and university professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business Chip Heath discusses how to make an impact with ideas. Chip Heath outlines the requirements for making ideas stick in a business context as changing the way an individual -- customer, client or employee -- thinks and acts. Chip Heath emphasizes the value in delivering an idea that persists over time.

To demonstrate how an idea can really stick with someone, Chip Heath shares an urban myth that has grown popular amongst university students from all over the world and that has made a lasting impact on people's behavior. The story is about a man who visits a hotel bar on a business trip and is sent over a drink from an attractive person. The next thing this man can remember is waking up in a bathtub, surrounded by ice and with a tube sticking out of his back. He had been the victim of organ theft, no longer possessing a kidney.

While this story is entirely false -- in fact, it has been altered dozens of times -- Chip Heath points out that after hearing this tale, people will likely never accept the drink from a stranger again. If businesses and companies can emulate this sort of influence on customers and clients, they will be successful.