Recently, I received an email at askdianna@booher.com asking this question: “How can we open closed minds—people who do not want to listen to any arguments or logic?” There are many different ways to tackle this problem, so I’ll spend a few weeks doling out some tips on how to get through to people who can’t be reasoned with.
1) Appeal to self-interest. Yes, people do make decisions for the good of motherhood, apple pie, and country. But they feel an even stronger tug when the decision has something in it for them personally. So, don’t just tell the manager that the new software will save the company over $400,000 in maintenance support during the next five years. Show how it will speed up preparation of the department's audit report and help get the paperwork off the manager’s own desk.
The more personal the benefits, the stronger the tug.
2) Create immediacy. A father may read in the newspaper that insurance companies are going bust right and left, and he'll shake his head with regret and turn the page. But let his college-age son interview for his first job with an insurance company and the father will clip that news story to send to his son, along with a note to "check this out before you accept that job."
IBM or General Motors may announce pending layoffs of 20,000 people in the next quarter, and you'll empathize with those families affected. But if you're an employee there, you'll start preparing your resume and talking to friends about job possibilities.
Don't tell employees that if XYZ legislation passes, their health-care costs will rise. Tell them that their deductible will slide from $200 to $1000 and you'll have their attention.
To spark interest and action, the situation has to touch people's daily lives. The closer the interest or the pressure, the more attention people pay. Talk personally. Make problems hit home.
3) Ride with the flow as far as you can go. We tend to continue to do things "because we've always done it that way." People resist change. Many voters still hold the political beliefs learned at their parent's knee. They watch TV ads for things they've already bought. They read cartoon series they've followed for 10 years and watch TV reruns for a lifetime.
For you, that means it's easier to ride the flow of opinion as far as you can. Find out what people feel comfortable with currently, and then present your idea as "a slight modification" rather than a "new" idea altogether. Think how much easier it would sound to you if someone asks you to "revise your report to include X" versus "rewrite your report." To "alter" sounds easier than to "rewrite" from scratch.
To avoid resistance to a "new" policy or procedure, just "alter" the old one.
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