Made to Stick: A Project Management Book Review
Today I turn our project management book review lens to Made to Stick, by Chip Heath & Dan Heath, which is not so much a book on "how to manage projects" as it is a workbook for how to improve upon that all-important skill of communication.
More precisely, Made to Stick involves the science of communicating ideas in a way that makes them "stick" to our brains. It's very much meant to be a book you reference -- lots of "how" in addition to the "what" and the "why". As a matter of fact, as soon as I finished it, I ordered it for myself and I reference it very often now when writing.
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Made to Stick, by Chip Heath & Dan Heath
The tagline of this book is "Why some ideas survive and others die", which I would actually slightly amend to finish with and what you can do about it.
When I read Alan Alda's If I Understood You, one of the things that really struck me was the idea that in communication, the onus is always on the communicator to ensure understanding. Made to Stick picks up that thread and runs with it:
How do we ensure that people don't simply understand us, but feel deeply-connected enough to our work and ideas that they're able to effectively share them with others?
How do we make sure that before we're even done talking, people want to hear more?
How do we foster an understanding that our priorities are not simply compelling — they’re also related to others’ priorities?
You can imagine the applications here for project managers. Most communication breakdowns I've seen in projects happen not because the project manager simply didn't inform anyone of a given status, but because it wasn't communicated in a way that was truly understood and absorbed by the folks around them. Now, that's easier said than done; you have to know your audience, for starters, as well as a keen understanding of why the work matters (or should matter) to them. But even that is just the beginning, and Made to Stick delves into what's next.
Their work revolves around the SUCCESs acronym (Simplicity, Unexpectedness, Concreteness, Credibility, Emotions, and Stories) to establish a toolkit for how we communicate. And the book is chock-full of examples (which I really appreciated) -- it really does read more as a handbook than an explanation.
I also just want to say that like many of my favorite books I've reviewed, this book was also just fun and joyful to read. I never dreaded picking it up or felt like I was slogging my way to the end of the next chapter, and I always felt like I'd gleaned something useful even if life meant I was only able to get another ten pages in before I had to set it back down again.
Who Should Read This Book?
If you're someone who communicates novel ideas often as part of your job, I'd definitely recommend giving Made to Stick a read. I found it instantly valuable as someone who communicates different pieces of strategy across many different stakeholders every day. My whole life is trying to avoid the experience of finishing saying something to a room of glazed-over eyes without any questions; I immediately found ways to apply this book to my speaking and my writing to become more engaging.
I also think anyone interested in doing work in the marketing space should read this book. As many of you know, I got my start doing PM work in the digital marketing space, and while I was never a subject-matter expert, it's always helpful to have a sense for what SMEs are reading and thinking. I can tell you that if I wrote content for a living, this book would live not just on my bookshelf, but on my desk.
Who Might Put This On Their “Save For Later” List?
I might skip this if you're reading on a tight timeline to prep for an interview, or looking to upskill in a more technical way (if this is you, check out the books under the Ways of Working header of my book club masterlist for more suggestions). I'd also skip it if you're still developing your fundamental understanding of what project management is -- I think this might muddy the waters and make it murkier to achieve that understanding.
The Bottom Line
I loved Made To Stick and would recommend it to anyone who communicates often (aka every project manager I can think of), especially if you're communicating new and/or complex ideas. I would require it for anyone who writes content for a living (in my day job we're hiring a content marketer soon and I will be buying this for them in their welcome/onboarding materials, if that says anything).
I always appreciate a book that I can reference over and over, and I've already come back to this a number of times since finishing it. Highly recommend, and if you do give it a read, let me know what you think!