Blog

Think you know how to influence?

You’re right.

You do.

You know your way to influence.

And it obviously works…to an extent.

You wouldn’t have gotten to where you are without some level of influencing skills.

But I’m guessing that being where you are comes with lots of frustrating follow ups, blown timeframes and compromises. 

So, do you know the best way to influence?

Because they’re not necessarily the same.

Your way relies on subjective experience...

Brad the Breather is a real person. 

I met him at a health retreat a number of years ago where he taught us how to breathe correctly.

Big, life changing belly breaths.

Did I know I wasn’t breathing correctly? 

No. It had never occurred to me that I was doing it wrong.

“Most people don’t have any clue about the process of breathing”, says Brad Thompson, “it’s just something they automatically do”.

Just something we automatically do.

...

We think having the idea is the difficult part.

No.

Getting buy-in is what’s difficult.

Think about all the time and effort you expend creating emails, proposals, business cases or presentations in the hope others will support your plan.

Now reduce that time by half.

Just imagine the great things you can do with 50% of your time back.

That’s what knowing how to influence action can give you.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret.

Very few are doing it well.

You see, reviewing the work of others is something I do a lot. 

When clients share with me their website, marketing, proposals and internal comms, I get to see what’s happening ‘out there’, across all industries, functions and sizes of organisation. 

I have a front row seat to people’s best work.

And here’s what’s disappointing.

The intent is there. People want to...

There are five myths about behaviour that persist despite being debunked by social sciences like behavioural economics.

In this video, I share what they are and why the science of influence has its own influence problem!

Snails are amazing, the way they lug their homes on their back. 

It’s quite the balancing act:

• Too heavy a shell, they can’t move.
• Too flimsy, it doesn’t protect them, which curtails their freedom.

It’s a balancing act humans are subject to, as well.

We’re constantly assessing what level of risk to carry before we compromise either freedom or safety. 

• Yes, I can post on social media, but what if I attract hate?
• Yes, I can buy your services,...

You may have seen it a hundred times.

It’s part of the cultural landscape. A meme, even.

But what does a TV test pattern actually mean?

I’d never even thought about this until I saw it revealed.

What looked random to me is actually intentional. Nearly every pixel in that pattern has meaning. 

It’s purposeful. Predictable. Testable.

Now imagine having that same discovery about behaviour.