Chip and Dan Heath
Chip Heath is the Thrive Foundation of Youth Professor of Organizational Behavior in the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. He is the co-author of “Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard,” which debuted at #1 on the “New York Times” and “Wall Street Journal” bestseller lists. The Heath brothers previously co-wrote the critically acclaimed book “Made to Stick,” which was named the Best Business Book of the Year, spent 24 months on the BusinessWeek bestseller list, and has been translated into 29 languages, the last of which was Slovak.
Chip is also a columnist for “Fast Company” magazine, and he has spoken and consulted on the topic of ‘making ideas stick’ with organizations such as Nike, the Nature Conservancy, Microsoft, Ideo, and the American Heart Association.
Chip’s research examines why certain ideas—ranging from urban legends to folk medical cures, from “Chicken Soup for the Soul” stories to business strategy myths—survive and prosper in the social marketplace of ideas. These ‘naturally sticky’ ideas spread without external help in the form of marketing dollars, PR assistance, or the attention of leaders. A few years back Chip designed a course, now a popular elective at Stanford, that asked whether it would be possible to use the principles of naturally sticky ideas to design messages that would be more effective. That course, How to Make Ideas Stick, has now been taught to hundreds of students including managers, teachers, doctors, journalists, venture capitalists, product designers, and film producers.
Chip’s research has appeared in the “Journal of Organizational Behavior,” “Quarterly Journal of Economics,” “Cognitive Psychology,” “Organizational Behavior” and “Human Decision Processes,” “Journal of Consumer Behavior,” “Strategic Management Journal,” “Psychological Science,” and the “Journal of Risk and Uncertainty.” Popular accounts of his research have appeared in “Scientific American,” “the Financial Times,” “The Washington Post,” “Business Week,” “Psychology Today,” and “Vanity Fair.” He has appeared on NPR and “National Geographic” specials.
Chip has taught courses on Organizational Behavior, Negotiation, Strategy, and International Strategy. Prior to joining Stanford, Professor Heath taught at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. He received his B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M University and his Ph.D. in Psychology from Stanford.
Dan Heath is a Senior Fellow at Duke University’s CASE center, which supports social entrepreneurs. He is the co-author of “Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard,” which debuted at #1 on the “New York Times” and “Wall Street Journal” bestseller lists. The Heath brothers previously co-wrote the critically acclaimed book “Made to Stick,” which was named the Best Business Book of the Year, spent 24 months on the BusinessWeek bestseller list, and has been translated into 29 languages, the last of which was Slovak.
Heath is a columnist for Fast Company magazine, and he has taught and consulted with organizations such as Microsoft, Philips, Vanguard, Macy’s, USAID, and the American Heart Association.
Previously, Dan worked as a researcher and case writer for Harvard Business School, co-authoring 10 case studies on entrepreneurial ventures, and later served as a Consultant to the Policy Programs of the Aspen Institute. In 1997, Dan co-founded an innovative publishing company called Thinkwell, which continues to produce a radically reinvented line of college textbooks.
Dan has an MBA from Harvard Business School, and a BA from the Plan II Honors Program from the University of Texas at Austin. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Rare, a conservation organization. Two proud (sort of) moments for Dan are his stint driving a promotional car called the “Brainmobile” across the country and his victory in the 2005 “New Yorker” Cartoon Caption Contest, beating out 13,000 other entrants.