Insights and Paths of Action from the Best Books

The book: This book is a very practical guide to transforming ideas into messages that your audience will care about, understand, and remember. The authors, Chip and Dan, are professors at Stanford and Duke University, respectively, and work with students and entrepreneurs applying their research every day. (They know what they are talking about.) Every one of the 6 principles of sticky ideas is explained through several examples. At the end of each chapter, there is an "idea clinic" where the authors show a real message and improve it using one of the six principles. Takeaways and Paths of Action: At Stanford University, 10 students were asked to present to their classmates about the importance of hat non-violent crime in the U.S. The speeches were evaluated by their peers and ranked from "best" to "poorest". As one may expect, the students with more public speaking experience, who were more eloquent, delivered the "best" speeches.

The book: This is a management guide by Verne Harnish, the founder and CEO of the strategic planning firm Gazelles. Harnish tells how to implement the three Rockefeller principles, Priorities, Data, and Rythm. This book is particularly useful for leaders of growing companies, although several principles can be applied to any type of project, for example, holding regular meetings and getting feedback from stakeholders. There are few detailed explanations, a lot of repetition, and several fictitious stories to help explain the concepts. Takeaways and Paths of Action: 1. Get the numbers (Data): What can be measured, can be done. Every member of your project or organization must have a "smart number" that serves as a quick review of his/her progress. For example, a salesperson may use the number of sales in the week or the number of recurring customers. The COO may use the number of goods produced divided by the number of hours worked; it does not have to be a who