Judging a Book by its Cover

Sometimes you should judge a book by its cover. This is especially true of Chip and Dan Heath's new book, "Made to Stick." The book presents a paradigm for understanding why some ideas attract a following and others don't. You can certainly understand why somebody would pick up this book - they stick to the duct tape.

After reading this book, I'll never look at velcro in the same way again. Have you ever stopped to think about the fact that one side of the velcro has dozens and dozens of little hooks that catch on to threads on the other end. Go ahead and try and see those hooks.

As the founder and CEO of Pass-Ed I'm constantly thinking about hooks. What can my organization do to try and catch the attention of others? What can we do to make people give us a second look? We need to have a great story to tell - a story that makes people want to listen.

Just what is that story? It's one thing to write that our company produces content in all major subject areas for both print and digital venues, as we've been writing. However, that story isn't going to inherently keep people's attention, unless of course they recognize a need for content and don't have the ability to produce their own content.

Perhaps the story that will cling to people's attention is that of a little boy who couldn't speak properly. This cute little five year old had such a hard time talking that he pronounced "biurthday party" as "diddy daddy." Given this child's gross motor skill deficits he was in special education through first grade and in speech therapy through junior high school. He did wonder if he had the skills to succeed and often felt as if he did not. This kid never scored a basket in a basketball game or hit the ball out of the infield. But, he did enter an Ivy League school and go on to pursue his doctorate in education at one of the top schools of education in the country. This kid, now an adult, still wonders if people are listening to him. After all they certainly had a hard time listening to him when they couldn't understand him. Consequently, he recognizes that students must learn to respect one another, listen to one another, and challenge one another to think critically as they discuss important ideas. This kid has built an educational development company that promotes healthy interaction between students, an interaction that promotes respect and development of self confidence. Following in the footsteps of his own teachers, this kid has worked hard to develop resources to help students take advantage of their strengths and overcome their weaknesses.

This is my true story.

I wonder if my story has the necessary hooks to make people want to pay attention?

The title of this blog post, Judging a Book by It's Cover, makes sense to me. Because my story is truly the cover of a book. Just because I have this story does not mean that my organization produces rich content of the highest quality. But, will my story make people take a second look?