Learning from liars

It’s infuriating when urban myths and conspiracy theories spread like wildfire, no matter how bogus they are. And it’s depressing when true and worthy ideas sink without trace.

But why does this happen?

Two thinkers, the brothers Chip and Dan Heath, studied this and discovered that ideas “stick” when they have certain characteristics. They came up with an acronym, SUCCES.* It goes like this:

Simple: The essence of the idea has been so thoroughly distilled that it can be grasped by anyone in an instant;

Unexpected: The idea violates a schema and piques curiosity;

Concrete: Its language is ordinary, and sensory, not abstract jargon;

Credible: Simple stats and vivid detail make the idea convincing;

Emotional: It has a charge because it appeals to identity, compassion, fear, or other emotions;

Stories: Somebody does something, or something happens to somebody – our brains still interpret the world through the medium of stories.

If you’re delegating something big and important, you’ll need enthusiastic buy-in, so keep SUCCES in mind as you prepare to describe it to the delegatee and others involved.

* See: “Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die”

More here: https://dsabuilding.co.uk/deep-and-deliberate-delegation/