Here’s a story from Dave Rendall, who has a blog called the Freak Factor. (I love his post that argues that if you’re getting rejected, you’re doing something right.)
I hadn’t seen Tammy in almost a year, when she approached me in the hallway. I was there to teach an evening class for non-traditional students. She […]
Archive for the 'Curse of Knowledge' Category
Tammy Is a Quitter
Published by October 23rd, 2007 in General, Simplicity, Concreteness, Credibility, Story, Curse of Knowledge and Teachers. 3 CommentsDigital signal processing, made to stick
Published by October 17th, 2007 in General, Simplicity, Concreteness, Story, Curse of Knowledge and Teachers. 4 Comments[Preamble] If you ask someone to think of a sticky idea, a lot of times they’ll blurt out a slogan. “Wassssup!” “Just do it.” And, no question, these are sticky ideas. But because people tend to associate the notion of “stickiness” with things like slogans — i.e., short, punchy, cleverisms — they have a hard […]
A C.J. Cragg moment
Published by July 31st, 2007 in General, Simplicity, Unexpectedness, Concreteness, Emotion and Curse of Knowledge. 0 CommentsCourtesy of Shawn Callahan, a sticky West Wing moment.
PowerPoint inventors on the suckiness of PowerPoint
Published by June 22nd, 2007 in General, Simplicity, Concreteness, Emotion, Story and Curse of Knowledge. 10 CommentsI am strangely fascinated by the philosophical debates about PowerPoint. Edward Tufte, who’s a hero of ours, is virulently opposed to PowerPoint.  I’m someone who uses it constantly, so it would be a bit hypocritical for me to rant against it. True, I think it enables a lot of our worst tendencies […]
On mission statements
Published by May 3rd, 2007 in General, Simplicity, Concreteness and Curse of Knowledge. 6 CommentsHere’s an excerpt from a punchy, funny book review by Richard J. Tofel that you won’t be able to read because it’s in the WSJ. The book being reviewed is 101 Mission Statements from Top Companies by Jeffrey Abrahams. Chip and I are both continually shocked by the fact that the average corporate […]
Why don’t we know more about Iraq?
Published by February 23rd, 2007 in General, Simplicity, Concreteness, Emotion and Curse of Knowledge. 4 CommentsThe fifth and final post over at Powell’s — if you can only read one post from the week, read this one. I’d love to get some communal thinking going on this issue. If you have thoughts, please email me or post a comment.
Talking Strategy Manifesto
Published by February 12th, 2007 in General, Simplicity, Unexpectedness, Concreteness, Story and Curse of Knowledge. 2 CommentsOur friends at ChangeThis just published our manifesto, Talking Strategy: Three Straightforward Ways to Make Your Strategy Stick. Chip and I believe that most organizations do a lousy job communicating their strategies internally.  Most execs seem to believe that formulating a strategy is 90% of the battle.  If you’re a sole proprietor, […]
The Stickiness Aptitude Test
Published by January 16th, 2007 in General, Simplicity, Unexpectedness, Concreteness, Credibility, Emotion, Story, Curse of Knowledge and Book news. 2 CommentsWe worked with Guy Kawasaki (and the folks at Electric Pulp) to create a “Stickiness Aptitude Test.” It’s designed for entrepreneurs who want to assess the stickiness of their message. Check it out!
Also we had an interesting Q&A with him, including some discussion of the stickiness of products.  In non-Made To Stick […]
Non-sticky titles
Published by December 20th, 2006 in General, Simplicity, Unexpectedness, Concreteness and Curse of Knowledge. 1 CommentPhil Dusenberry, an advertising luminary, wrote a book that, by all accounts, was well-written, insightful, and full of fascinating industry scuttlebutt. It should have been a big hit. But first the book had to be titled. And, after a long series of negotiations and compromises, the parties involved decided to name the book “Then We […]
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