Persuasion v/s Convincing
When it comes to trying to change people’s minds, most rational people go about it the way Karen Schulz says: “The first thing we usually do when someone disagrees with us is that we just assume they are ignorant. You know, they don’t have access to the same information we do and when we generously share that information with them, they are going to see the light and come on over to our team.” No prizes for guessing how successful that approach is! Atul Gawande points out why that technique doesn’t work: “But, (Everett) Rogers showed, people follow the lead of other people they know and trust when they decide whether to take it up.” Ever worse (depending on your point of view), facts and data matter the least if you’re trying to change someone’s mind. Why? Because of the difference between persuasion and convincing , as pointed out by Seth Godin: “Marketers don’t convince. Engineers convince. Marketers persuade. Persuasion appeals to the emotions and to fear and to ...