Made To Stick – A Book About Making Ideas Stickier
I arrive to work at Arke Systems this past Wednesday and I see a huge pile of magazines and a book on my desk. There’s a note from my boss, and it tells me to read the book by January 29th. Apparently, there’s going to be a class on it and they might send me. I know that anything my boss gives me to read is going to be a good one, so I immediately embrace the assignment. The book is bright orange – certainly eye-catching. It’s a color that I would never brave myself to use in a painting, but still pleasant to see. It’s a “happy” color. I pick the book up and thumb through it, unsure of its contents or its nature. I just know it’s called “Made To Stick” and these two Heath brothers wrote it. I decide not to read while I’m at work. (I’ll wait until I can take it home). I read the introduction – and the first story it opens with is the infamous kidney-harvesting story. I had never heard of it before – and if you haven’t I won’t spoil it for you – but it’s shocking. You find out later that it’s almost entirely untrue, but you don’t know that to begin with. The Heath brothers then guide you on a journey on the fundamentals of sticky ideas. Why do we hold onto sticky ideas? What makes them sticky in the first place? What are you doing to make your ideas un-sticky? They break it down into an acronym: SUCCES(s). Clever, right? It stands for: Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible,...
Great Leaders Dive In
There was a moment the other day that I realized just how much retail lacks great leaders. Retail is an industry that sees a lot of turnover. It’s tough dealing with people everyday. The pay isn’t great. The hours can be unpredictable and rough – especially around the holidays. Everyone has their own walk of life and their own experiences – and not all of them are great. This becomes even more apparent when working in retail because you have to remind yourself of this fact. Everyone is different, so expect an array of shopper behavior. You can imagine just how much harder it is for businesses in retail to find great leaders, and keep them. But when they do find and keep, I notice that these leaders all have something in common: they dive. Great leaders don’t shy away from trouble. They don’t tiptoe around situations. They aren’t shy about taking charge. They dive in. Great leaders almost actively find trouble. Not the kind of trouble that puts them in the corner, but they search for problems they can fix or guide. I think of the elegant diver: poised, confident, twirling, and falling so beautifully before penetrating the water – separating it, parting it. There’s a moment of decision and determination. A moment where the diver thinks, “Alright. I’m doing this. Remember your form.” Am I saying you have to twirl around while helping an angry customer at the register? No (but it might be pretty funny). Have you ever watched an Olympic diver? It’s stunning, and swift. That’s how leaders should be – and some are. Olympic divers don’t...No Results Found
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