Sticky Ideas

What do "Where's the beef?" and "It's the economy, stupid!" have in common? They have both passed Chip and Dan Heath's test for ideas that stick. The two brothers credit Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point, with giving them the concept of stickiness.

If you're like me, you've generated a lot of ideas that haven't gone beyond your best friend's, "Hey that's a great idea!" Yet other persons with "less great" ideas get published, splashed all over the news and celebrated in major galleries. Have you ever fretted about this injustice? If so, then, I recommend that you read Made to Stick, Why Some Ideas Survive and Other Die.

The Heath formula for a "sticky" idea is SUCCESs: Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional, Stories. I hope my summary below intrigues you to read the book.

Simple means getting to the campact core of the idea. Similar to the militray term, Commander's Intent, it means determining the single most important thing. An example from Southwest Airline: We are THE low-fare airline.

Unexpected means using the surprise factor to get people's attention. It requires creating a mystery to hold their attention. Nora Ephron tells about her first journalism class. The instructor gave them all sorts of information about a conference teachers would be attending and then had the students write "the lead" for the story. After he'd seen their drafts, he said, "The lead is: There will be no school next Thursday." Ephron says that she suddenly realized journalism wasn't about information; it was about getting underneath the facts to their importance. And for the rest of the year, every assignment had a secret - a hidden point the students had to figure out to produce a good story.

Concrete means using people and specifics that help others understand and remember your idea. James Grant, a former director of UNICEF, always carried a packet that contained one teaspoon of salt and eight teaspoons of sugar. When added to a liter of water, these ingredients constitute Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT). As he met with ministers of developing countries, he would pull out his packet and say, "Do you know that this costs less than a cup of tea and it can save hundreds of thousands of children's lives in your country?" Very few people would forget this encounter with ORT.

Credible means helping people believe in the idea. This can be through offering authority (or antiauthority) and/or passing the Frank Sinatra test: "If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere." During a mandatory orientation session for basketball rookies, several players went to the hotel bar on the first night. They were pleased that some female fans paid them a lot of attention and made plans to meet up with them later. The next day these female fans were in the front of the classroom. Each introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Donna and I'm HIV positive." "Hi, I'm Sheila and I'm HIV positive." Suddenly all the talk about AIDS was concrete. And the antiauthority of Donna and Sheila made it credible. The rookies became believers in safe sex.

Emotional means making people care about your idea. Mother Teresa said that if she looked at the mass of human suffering, she felt paralyzed; but, if she looked at one person, she was moved to act. Anyone who has ever made a charitable donation knows that the story of one woman whose life was improved by receiving a cow or chicken has caused them to feel generous while tales of mass genocide in Darfur have left them immobilized. We care about the individual because we can identify with him or her. We may also get people to care about our idea by associating it with persons with whom they identify.

Stories mean moving people to act. Jared was a 425 pound college student who lost over 200 pounds by eating Subway sandwiches. Does that get your attention? Does that pique interest in your local Subway shop? It seems that when we hear a story we simulate it in our own life. Anyone who has ever done visualizations about success in a particular area of life, will be fascinated by the research done on event simulations. I'll give away the punch line: Visualizing how a problem arose, going over in detail the incidents that occurred step by step and the actions you took, what you said, the environment, who was there, etc. is more effective than visualizing the outcome you want and the feelings you will have when you achieve it.

May you have many sticky ideas!

Transition Time

Obama won and now it's transition time. After spending all fall working on Obama's campaign, at long last I'm getting back to my creative work. I'm focused for now on my painting. I've figured out that the "village series" is really something a little bigger in scope. These pieces, along with a few done earlier and a few yet to be painted, make up a set of paintings that might better be called "Human Encounters of the Transformative Kind," or something like that.

As often happens in my creative life, my mind had me heading in one direction - the villages - while in reality my heart was singing an unconscious song. As I see the paintings that have been produced and listen to the songs that they are singing, I realize this work isn't about "the villages." It's about how people and places around the world have made me who I am. Each painting in this global series is like an artifact in a museum; it encapsulates a story of how I was changed.

Stay tuned while I try to figure out what those changes were.

An Engaged, Informed Electorate

Recently Michelle Obama was on Larry King Live. What impacted me was that despite the ongoing hostile and trumped up attacks made by the McCain campaign on her husband, Michelle was without rancor. Instead she demonstrated calm composure.

I realized that during the nearly two years that Barack Obama has been running for President, I have never seen either him or Michelle project fear, anger or disrespect. Instead, their emphasis has been on engaging people - normal everyday people, middle-income people, ordinary Jacks and Jills who work hard, pay their taxes, and dream of being surpassed by their children - people who have felt disrespected and ignored throughout the gilded age of Wall Street high finance.

In his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, Barack Obama said that across America "something is stirring." That something is a quiet revolution in which those "insignificant Jacks and Jills" have been coming out of the ground and claiming their citizenship by standing up to the political machines of the past. They have been snatching our democracy back from the special interest groups that have for too long determined both the agenda and the policies generated in Washington.

While other Democrats mocked Howard Dean's 50 State Strategy, the Obamas embraced and moved it forward. Whether or not Barack wins the election, the Obama campaign will leave a legacy of citizen participation the likes of which has not been seen for a very long time. When asked about all the voter registration efforts, early voting drives and plans to get out the vote, Michelle said every bit of it is necessary. She was absolutely clear that when Barack takes office in January, he will need an engaged and informed electorate in order to make the changes that are necessary.

An engaged and informed electorate - how novel!

Imagine ordinary people actually understanding the difference between the health care plans of Obama and McCain. Wrap you mind around having neighbors who grasp how McCain's $300 billion mortgage purchase plan would rip them off. Consider the impact of masses of people believing again in public education. Think about an American public that supports bringing our troops home from Iraq and sending fresh troops to Afghanistan where our security demands that they be. Envision a United States that moves vigorously toward energy independence. Picture a nation united in the same way that the Democratic party has become united in this election.

All of this is possible. It is possible because Barack and Michelle do not hold grudges. Even as John McCain and the Republican Party slander Barack, Michelle says, "We must all come together. We will need John and Cindy to help us rebuild this country we love."

You rock, Michelle!

Breaking through Cynicism

Cynicism about elections runs like a deep river through this great land of ours. It is easy to understand why people laid off from jobs that have been shipped overseas would be cynical. Or why the single mom working three jobs to make ends meet would believe that the federal government doesn't care about her and her children.

Likewise, considering the handing chad/supreme court debacle of 2000 or, in 2004, Republicans' character assassination of John Kerry and African Americans in Ohio forced to stand in line for ten hours to vote, our nation's cynicism is not surprising. Or that so many people have concluded, "It's impossible to buck the system, so why try? It doesn't matter who you vote for, nothing will change. Everything is stacked against me; only big corporations have power."

Recently Republicans held a convention in which they discussed none of the issues facing middleclass Americans, yet their candidate, John McCain, proclaims himself to be "an agent of change." In the face of such farce, it is easy to throw up your hands and declare, "One politician is just like another. They're in it for themselves."

Nevertheless, it remains true that elections matter. Had Al Gore been declared victor in 2000, we would not be pouring $10 billion/month into Iraq. Instead we would be on a fast track to reduce carbon emissions that compromise the planet's climate and the future of our children.

After watching the "radical right" dominate politics for eight years and produce an administration of deception that panders to the rich and to special interest lobbies such as oil, it takes courage to believe that something else is possible. It takes courage to trust that Barack Obama is different, that he truly cares about ordinary Americans.

I have seen Barack Obama demonstrate core values. He has conducted the most disciplined and grassroots campaign in modern American history. He manifested judgment regarding the war in Iraq, the more critical war in Afghanistan, and rebuilding our diplomatic mission around the world. His leadership in calling together renowned advisors on the economy, national security, energy innovations, healthcare and social security has built my trust in him. I am tired of hearing that people still question Obama's capacity to lead this nation.

Yes, Obama is smarter than I am. Yes, he is more dedicated than I am. Yes, he has made more of his life than I have of mine. Yes, he goes to the gym more regularly than I do. Yes, he's closer to his family than I am to mine. Yes, his family background is more diverse than mine is. Yes, he has more to offer to this country than I do. For those reasons, I do not identify with him. But neither do I resent that he outstrips me on all of these fronts. In fact, I am grateful. I am grateful that someone of his capacities is willing to take on our national challenges. Surely I and my fellow citizens can set aside our resentments and our cynicism to do the one thing we can do, vote for him to become president of the United States.

An Obama administration would bring:

• Thousands of new green jobs
• A $1000+ tax break for most Americans
• Strategies to achieve energy independence
• Investments in education
• Health coverage for all persons
• Protection of social security for seniors

Elections matter. Do you have the courage to believe again in democracy and a leader who challenges us to become more than we dare to dream is possible? I do.

Obama Fresh Starts

Recently it occurred to me that fresh starts is a foundational image for the United States. Almost four hundred years ago, Europeans crossed the Atlantic Ocean in search of a fresh start in the spiritual realm - freedom of worship. When they wrote the Declaration of Independence and formed our democracy they were making a fresh political start. Succeeding generations of immigrants, facing famine in their places of origin, came to our shores seeking a fresh economic start. Westward expansion across North America was also founded on the image of making a fresh start, the hope of providing a better life for one's family.

Barack Obama understands and lives out of America's foundational image. His father left Kenya to get an education that would allow him and his family to leave servitude to the British and make a fresh start. His mother, single and with two children to raise, made a fresh start in providing for her family by studying for a doctorate degree. Thus empowered, she enabled others caught in poverty to make fresh starts by providing them with micro loans.

Obama is calling Americans back to our creation story. He is challenging us to let go of oil dependency and make a fresh start with renewable energy. He is calling us to break withe the negative browbeating of contemporary politics and make a fresh start by discussing the common issues we face. He is asking us to renounce the "go it alone" posture of the Bush administration and make a fresh start as a partner within the international community.

As in the realm of nature, fresh starts in society assure the future of our children.