made-to-stick

What the source does

• FilesystemNone observedNo reads or writes in the source
• NetworkNone observedNo outbound calls in the source
• ShellNone observedNo commands run in the source
• DependenciesPinnedNothing floats
• SecretsNone foundNo keys in source

Five audit layers

Gates applied: no behavioural pass.

Audit 0.4.1 · source sha 5015fcf4cde3 · 28 Oct 2026Report an issue or request a re-scan

• Publishergetagentseal GitHub organizationOwner of the repository this skill is read from
• Source foldergetagentseal/founder-playbook/skills/made-to-stickThe exact folder we audited
• LicenceMITAs the repository states it
• Commit pinned for this verdict5015fcf4cde3A new audit runs when the source changes
• Repository statusNot archivedLast push 21 days ago
• Sandboxed runNot runSkills are read, not executed; layer L4 is skipped

Its description: Applies the SUCCESs Framework from Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. Use when crafting messages that need to be remembered, writing pitches, creating presentations, designing training materials, telling stories…

---
name: made-to-stick
description: "Applies the SUCCESs Framework from Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. Use when crafting messages that need to be remembered, writing pitches, creating presentations, designing training materials, telling stories that drive action, or diagnosing why a message isn't landing. The six principles (Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional, Stories) diagnose and fix communication failures. Triggers include 'how do I make this memorable', 'my pitch isn't landing', 'people forget what we told them', 'how do I tell a better story', 'our training materials are boring', 'how do I present data compellingly', 'nobody remembers our message', 'how do I get people to care about this', 'my writing is too abstract'. NOT for channel selection (use Traction), not for brand messaging structure (use StoryBrand), not for positioning (use Obviously Awesome)."
---

> **Note:** This skill is independent analysis and commentary, not a reproduction of the original text. It synthesizes the book's core ideas with modern startup practice, surfaces where frameworks are outdated or incomplete, and integrates perspectives from adjacent disciplines. For the full argument and context, read the original book.


# Made to Stick

> "There is no such thing as an inherently uninteresting subject. There are only uninterested communicators." - Chip Heath & Dan Heath

## Should You Use This Skill?

```
Is your message failing to land?
|-- YES --> Do people understand it but forget it?
|   |-- YES --> Probably missing CONCRETE or STORIES. Check those principles.
|   +-- NO  --> Do people tune out before hearing it?
|               |-- YES --> Missing UNEXPECTED (no hook) or SIMPLE (too complex).
|               +-- NO  --> Do they hear it but not care?
|                           |-- YES --> Missing EMOTIONAL. They believe but don't act.
|                           +-- NO  --> Do they care but not believe it?
|                                       |-- YES --> Missing CREDIBLE.
|                                       +-- NO  --> THIS SKILL. Run the full diagnostic.
+-- NO  --> Is the message landing but people aren't acting?
            |-- YES --> Missing STORIES (no mental simulation of action) or
            |           EMOTIONAL (they believe but don't feel).
            +-- NO  --> The message is working. Don't fix what isn't broken.
```

---

## The Core Insight

**The enemy of sticky messages is the Curse of Knowledge.**

Once you know something, you can't imagine not knowing it. You tap a song on a table and think it's obvious - but listeners guess correctly only 2.5% of the time (you predicted 50%). This is the tappers-and-listeners experiment, and it's the central metaphor of the entire book.

Every expert, every founder, every leader suffers from this curse. It makes you talk in abstractions when your audience needs concrete details. It makes you assume shared context that doesn't exist. It makes your messages forgettable.

The SUCCESs framework is the systematic antidote.

### Why Most Messages Die

```
WHAT COMMUNICATORS DO:                 WHAT STICKY MESSAGES DO:
Bury the lead in context               Lead with the core (SIMPLE)
Start with what's expected              Start with what's surprising (UNEXPECTED)
Speak in abstractions                   Speak in sensory, tangible terms (CONCRETE)
Rely on their own authority             Let the message prove itself (CREDIBLE)
Appeal to reason and logic              Appeal to identity and feeling (EMOTIONAL)
Present conclusions                     Tell stories that simulate action (STORIES)
```

---

## The SUCCESs Framework

Six principles. Not a checklist where you need all six, but a diagnostic toolkit. Most messages fail on 1-2 specific principles. Identify which ones and fix those.

### 1. Simple

**Find the core. Share the core. Nothing else.**

This is not about dumbing down. It's about forced prioritization - finding the single most important thing and saying it in a way that's both compact and profound.

**Commander's Intent (CI):** The military's solution to the Curse of Knowledge. Instead of detailed battle plans that fall apart on contact with the enemy, officers communicate the ONE thing that matters: "Break the will of the enemy in this region." Soldiers can improvise around that intent when plans fail.

**Your Commander's Intent:** If your audience remembers only ONE thing, what must it be?

**Tools for simplicity:**

| Tool | How It Works | Example |
|------|-------------|---------|
| **Inverted Pyramid** | Lead with the most important info first | Journalism standard: headline, lead, details |
| **Generative Analogy** | Compress an idea into a schema people already have | Disney calls employees "cast members" - this single metaphor generates correct behavior across thousands of situations |
| **High-Concept Pitch** | Describe via known reference points | "Jaws on a spaceship" (Alien), "Die Hard on a bus" (Speed) |
| **Proverbs** | Compact + profound | "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" - simple AND deep |

**The accuracy trap:** Don't sacrifice memorability for completeness. "Maximize shareholder value" is accurate but generates no useful behavior. Southwest's "THE low-fare airline" is less precise but drives every decision in the company.

**Test:** Can a front-line employee use your message to make a decision you'd agree with, without asking you?

### 2. Unexpected

**Get attention with surprise. Keep attention with curiosity.**

Two problems, two solutions:

| Problem | Solution | Mechanism |
|---------|----------|-----------|
| Getting attention | **Surprise** | Break a schema (violate expectations) |
| Keeping attention | **Curiosity** | Open a knowledge gap, then fill it |

**The surprise sequence:**
1. Identify the central message
2. Figure out what is counterintuitive about it
3. Communicate it in a way that breaks the audience's guessing machine

**Gap Theory of Curiosity (Loewenstein

Excerpt, first 6,000 characters of SKILL.md, verbatim from the audited commit. It is text from someone else’s repository, quoted so you can judge it before your agent reads it.

git clone https://github.com/getagentseal/founder-playbook
git -C founder-playbook checkout 5015fcf4cde3

Works in

1. 2026-10-28
   ✓SAFE B 89 / 100

   first audit · source 5015fcf4cde3

Questions about made-to-stick

• github.com/getagentseal/founder-playbook/tree/main/skills/made-t — the audited source at commit 5015fcf4cde3 and every finding aboveObserved · 28 Oct 2026

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