CHIP AND DAN HEATH’S ‘MADE TO STICK’ UNCOVERS WHAT MAKES IDEAS MATTER
be the cause. Understanding how to present your ideas in an inspiring way could unlock the key to increased productivity and growth like you’ve never achieved before. The next time you present an idea to your team, a group of conference attendees,or any other audience,ask yourself if that idea will stick. If it won’t,you’re just wasting your time. If you need a little guidance on how to make your ideas punch a little harder, “Made to Stick” should be on your holiday book list.
Have you ever wondered why certain stories that have no basis in fact get passed around like wildfire? Whether they’re rumors,urban legends,or conspiracy theories,these tales can often gain more traction than important ideas and facts. In their book “Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die,” Chip and Dan Heath explore the qualities that give ideas relevance and pass-around value.
presented in the form of stories.While these principles are relatively straightforward,they are often subverted in an effort to use business jargon and other neutered forms of language. The Heaths deploy John F.Kennedy’s famous speech about putting a man on the moon as an example of a compellingly relayed idea.“Had John F.Kennedy been a CEO,he would have said,‘Our mission is to become the international leader in the space industry through maximum team-centered innovation and strategically targeted aerospace initiatives,’” they explain.Nobody would have been excited about that.
“An accurate but useless idea is still useless,” they write.This point is key to understanding why people get excited about certain ideas and ignore others.The Heaths argue that the presentation of ideas can have just as much of an impact on their “stickiness” as the content of the ideas.After analyzing hundreds of examples,they note,“We began to see the same themes,the same attributes, reflected in a wide range of successful ideas.” “Made to Stick” explains those attributes using myriad examples to illustrate how stickiness works in the real world.Early in the book,the Heaths share six key principles,demonstrating how good ideas are made valuable and exciting by their simplicity, unexpectedness,concreteness,and credibility; are capable of rousing emotions; and are often
If you’ve ever thought that you had a great idea but couldn’t get your employees to buy into it, a lack of stickiness may
PUTTING BEST PRACTICES IN PLACE
Have you ever gone to grab some supplies only to find you’re out?! It’s frustrating,and you’re left feeling like your teamdoesn’t have your back. It can slow down or even halt productivity.
To avoid this frustration, implement visual cues for frequently used supplies and items.
Pro Tip No. 2: Always make sure you have supplies available by setting visual cues for when it’s time to order more. Put the Japanese concept of kanban in place for 5S supplies so you never run out. Strategically place labels and cue cards within supplies to designate when it’s time to order more. The label should have the supplier’s name for that product, the part number, and any other details that are needed for inventory control.
For example, using this system on your red tags, you would stick the cue card near the last of the 3–5 red tags.When a team member reaches for a red tag and it’s down to the last 3–5, they see the cue card, letting them know supplies are running low and signaling that more need to be ordered. They can give it to the person in charge of ordering more supplies and know that their teammate won’t be left in the lurch without red tags. This system is simple yet effective for managing inventory. Setting these cues is a key part of keeping material, information, and processes flowing
smoothly at your facility. If you let things slide a bit at the end of the year, now is the time to get back on track and return to your best practices. Set the example for your team by staying on top of your standards. Don’t wait until supplies have run out! Put cue cards and other 5S best practices into effect in your workplace to improve efficiency and productivity.
To order cue cards and labels, email custom@the5sstore.com.
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