Management Perspectives

Make them believe

MYTH 1: ONLY LOGIC MATTERS.

In December, a client named Mike called me, and said, “I just don’t get it.”

I have told Stephen he needs to change the method he introduced ten years ago. It is out of date; I and everyone else in the industry are doing things differently—except him. So logically he should change. But he will not listen and he is getting angry.

Many managers believe that if they explained the logic of why someone needs to change, then the person should change. However, frequently what stops change is emotion. So why not ask yourself two questions:

What emotions might hinder this change? What emotions might help this change?

For Stephen, since he introduced the system 10 years ago, he may feel a loss of face which can create sadness or anger. Also, being told that everybody else is right and you are wrong will typically generate anger. In contrast, Stephen had the foresight to introduce a new method 10 years ago and may, well, feel proud of his previous achievement in challenging the old way of doing things.

An effective way to manage emotions to encourage change is to tell Stephen a story in three parts. Part one is to talk about what the situation was 10 years ago and what reasons convinced Stephen the company needed a new system. Part two is to discuss, what has changed in the environment (customers, competitors, and regulators)—all outside his control, so he has done nothing wrong—that means the existing system now needs to change. Part three is to link the future change to his knowledge and success with introducing the previous system. This would reduce any negative emotions and increase positive ones.

It is a myth that only logic matters; a professional way to influence emotions is to tell business stories. For more examples of how business stories can influence emotions and change, have a look at this blog: https://www.anecdote.com/blog.

MYTH 2: JUST PRESENT THE ONE RIGHT WAY.

Some managers believe they should present the one right way that solves the problem. In meetings, listen for language like “we must,” “we should,” and “we have to.” The reasons are that early in their career many simple problems have one best way. So, why not get straight to the point?  

What managers eventually learn is that other people want to be involved in the thinking that created this one best way. If you do not present the information in a way that allows them to be involved in the thinking, they will find a way to get involved in the thinking. They need to convince themselves you have done a good job. What this looks like is questions about: your assumptions, your methods, and how you have considered alternatives. Junior managers often get frustrated with other people’s desire to be involved.  

However, changing from presenting one solution to presenting three options will make it easier for the audience. Walk through the process:

Here is the problem we are trying to solve; you need to remind the audience because, often, audience members have been in back- to-back meetings and may have forgotten what problem you are trying to solve. You will know this because they will criticise you for not solving a different problem. At the end of this section, a simple method is to ask the audience if everyone agrees with the problem. Do not proceed until everyone agrees.

Explain the criteria for choosing the recommended option.

Provide three options, this is enough to prove you have considered a range. But do not give too many options lest it makes the decision too complicated.

State the recommended solution.

This myth comes from a manager’s desire to save time by only presenting the one right way. Trying to prevent the audience being involved in your thinking will often take more time and be more stressful than simply walking them your thinking.

MYTH 3: WHEN PERSUADING WITH NUMBERS, MORE COLOURS GIVES MORE CREDIBILITY.

Every week, managers present numbers because every manager has a budget and needs to explain the positive gap when ahead of budget or the negative gap when behind. Once there is a gap, then managers need to persuade other managers to agree with the action they recommend.

To persuade, managers can reach for many kinds of software: Excel, Numbers, Power Pivot, Power BI, Tableau, PowerPoint, and Keynote. For these ways of analysing and presenting data, the default seems to be: use as many colours as possible, use a new colour for every series of data, in tables highlight one kind of data in yellow and another in green and the next in blue.

However, when someone looks at your ‘rainbow of colours’, every time they see a different colour, they check to see what the difference is to other colours. If you have five colours, then we overload their brain trying to compare 10 combinations of two colours; if you have seven colours, we overload their brain with 21 combinations. While your audience is searching to understand what is different, they are not listening to your message: they keep asking themselves, ‘what is your message’? More colours equal more confusion, which means less credibility.

So, what should managers do to persuade with numbers? Learn from the best: The Economist creates some of the clearest charts.

Watch this 7-minute video explaining what makes their charts so good: https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=cGGkAGBre3A

Or browse hundreds of these charts and see what persuasive charts look like: https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail

Perhaps you think creating charts like this would take too long? See how to use Excel to create an Economist chart in this video: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=A5168AW7rLM

To persuade better with numbers, use fewer colours. Instead, use three shades of one colour (for eg, three shades of blue) with three shades of another colour (for eg, black).

MYTH 4: YOU DON’T WANT THE OTHER PERSON TO SAY “NO”.

As an experienced negotiator, I know that many managers are worried about the other party saying “no”. They believe that once the other party says “no”, then it is harder to change their mind and get a "yes”. On hearing the other negotiator say “no”, this fear of “no” could encourage the manager to immediately offer concessions to try to change the “no” to a “yes”. However, if an experienced negotiator gets concessions from saying “no”, then what do you think they will do next? They will say “no” again and wait for more concessions.

Instead, FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss (co-author) in his book, Never Split the Difference (2016) offers a different perspective. When someone says “no”, they feel like they have protected themselves. So, they relax and are willing to explain their reasons.

Especially when you ask one of two questions:

“What about this doesn’t work for you?”

 “What would you need to make it work?”

Or you might try a gentler approach, Voss suggests use labelling and say, “It seems like there’s something here that bothers you.” Then bite your tongue and wait for at least six seconds for the other party to answer.

 In my experience, once the other side says “no”, then they are willing to explain and give you the clues that can help you create a package both parties can agree too. So, instead of being afraid of “no”, ask questions to encourage a “no” and then watch the information flow.