The importance of repetition

How often do you remember someone's name after having met them once and then not seeing them again for one or more years later? What's the liklihood that you'll remember the name after you've met that same person a few different times, or after you've spent some length of time engaged in meaningful conversation with them? Probably significantly higher, right?

The same is true of any idea though, isn't it? Oftentimes as architects, we have knowledge and experience gained from doing several projects over several years. This certainly doesn't mean we know everything, but it does mean we oftentimes possess a lot of wisdom and experience that others don't possess. Try as we may, with the best intentions we try to share that experience and wisdom with others, then oftentimes, get frustrated when the others don't "get it." I discsused this concept in further detail in an earlier post titled "Sooner or later, everyone will touch the stove."

So, just as the liklihood of your remembering someone's name the second or third time you've met them or spent some meaningful time speaking with a person, what you're trying to convey to others will be remembered the more often you say it, the way you say it, or the more often you engage with others in meaningful conversation around it. This phenomenon is not something to be frustrated about...it's simply a phenomenon worth acknowledging and appreciating. Several other fantastic strategies for making your ideas "stick" with people are detailed in the book Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, by Dan and Chip Heath. If you want your ideas to "stick"...and who doesn't?...I highly recommend reading it.

Effective architects use several strategies to make their ideas stick.