The Sticking Point and SAT

Here is an excerpt from Guy Kawasaki's blog. It's a good post of an interview of a new book called "The Sticking Point". Ever wonder why some ideas 'stick' and others don't?

Question: What separates ideas that stick from those that don’t?

Answer: We spent lots of time researching sticky ideas—ideas that people understand, remember, and that change the way people think or behave. The ideas we studied ranged from the ludicrous to the profound, from urban legends (no, there is no kidney theft ring) to great scientific theories (yes, the land we walk around on does ride on giant tectonic plates and when they collide they cause mountain ranges and earthquakes). We found there were six principles (“SUCCES”) that link sticky ideas of all kinds. Sticky ideas won’t always have all six, but the more, the merrier.

For example, JFK’s idea to “put a man on the moon in a decade” had all six of them:

1. Simple A single, clear mission.

2. Unexpected A man on the moon? It seemed like science fiction at the time.

3. Concrete Success was defined so clearly—no one could quibble about man, moon, or decade.

4. Credible This was the President of the U.S. talking.

5. Emotional It appealed to the aspirations and pioneering instincts of an entire nation.

6. Story An astronaut overcomes great obstacles to achieve an amazing goal.

On the blog Guy has a 'Stickiness Aptitude Test' or SAT to see if your product has a sticky factor. It's an interesting test. I took it and scored a 5. It tells me I need to change the way I communicate our message. However, the test is really geared to folks in the tech market - so you have to take that into account if you're coming from a non-profit / ministry perspective.