In many organisations one of the biggest challenges is to
overcome the cynical view that “…it will never happen..” The problem with this
cynicism is that left unchallenged you’ll never inspire or motivate the
necessary actions to make things happen and it becomes a self-fulfilling
prophecy.
So how do we make people believe?
How do we make then believe: in the need for change; the
benefits of change; that it will happen; that they have a role; and that they
must act. That’s an awful lot of belief that is necessary!
I think the answer lies in a quote by Confucius Chinese
philosopher & reformer (551 BC - 479 BC)
and in understanding how the media compile and broadcast stories, either
news or dramas that have an audience identify, understand, engage, and believe.
The quote by Confucius is “I hear and I forget. I see and I
remember. I do and I understand.”
Arguably belief is stronger when it is founded on personal
experience (what we do) rather than the wisdom of others. However it is strongest
where the two coincide and the words, pictures, sounds, facts, feelings around
us accord with the values, culture and experience within us.
It is interesting to consider the key seven ways to influence belief and action
Do it…
Do it…
Because you like me,
and you’re like me - We often do things because of the value we put on relationships. We do things to please or ingratiate
others and help identify ourselves with them. Following celebrity diets,
fashions or views are examples. In
organisational change it is good to be able to “Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch” (http://www.kipling.org.uk/poems_if.htm) since this means more people will be like you and
like you.
Do it to reciprocate,
repay past or future debt or promise - A lot of community work, ethics,
religion are based on “give to receive” or “eye for an eye”. Reciprocity “do
unto others as you might have them do for you” is a feature of many cultures
and does effect behaviour whether the reward is now or in the after-life. In
organisational change positive negotiation and some give and take can unlock
change.
Do it because
everyone else is doing it -Most advertising is based on social and peer
pressure to be with the in-crowd. Every parent knows the argument that
“..everybody else is..”. People will often join a crowd or a queue simply to
see what’s happening and this creates expectation and an appetite for something
which are the fertile soil for belief. In
organisational change it is good to point to other examples, precedents and
case studies.
This offer is good
for a limited time only - Some advertising is based scarcity which creates
value. This is not unrelated to the above ideas of expectation and an appetite,
but extend this to desire. Desire, wanting something to happen or be true is often the basis of making it true: “The reasonable man adapts himself to the
world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself.
Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man” (George Bernard Shaw,
Man and Superman (1903) "Maxims for Revolutionists"). In organisational change it is good to emphasise that
the time is NOW!
Do it to be
consistent, with past, with values, with type - We sometimes do or believe
things because it fits with our culture, our family, our sense of self and our
place in the community. This applies to the church as much as it does to the
football crowd or the political group. Belief and belonging are strongly
linked. In organisational change it is good to create
community and belonging and codify the conditions for membership.
You can believe me,
I’m an authority - We sometimes do or believe things because we respect
authority. Dr Andrew Wakefield and MMR Vaccine
springs to mind (http://www.spiked-online.com/site/article/13532/) If you want to really understand this see the
experiments of Stanley Milgram (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment) In
organisational change it is good to have authority, experience, wisdom,
credentials and past experience.
Do it or else - We
sometimes do or believe things because we are coerced. North Korea springs to
mind. You could argue that doing something when coerced is not belief, but it
is based on a belief that you have no better choice.
In organisational change where there is a crisis strong leadership may be
decisive and possibly divisive but sometimes do it or else is necessary for
survival.
So when do we believe…
We believe when sufficient factors above and sources suggest
when something is True Enough. True
Enough to serve our purposes, confirm our prejudices, satisfy our needs and
expectation and fit with our values.
When the media tell us and we experience it then it must be
true.
I recommend this book True-Enough-Learning-Post-Fact-Society
Tim Rogers
Founder ciChange
timrogers@ciChange.org
http://www.linkedin.com/groups/CI-Change-4301853
ciChange seminar and networking events for 2013 sponsored
by Total Solutions Group http://www.tsgi.co/
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