Page 153 - The Power to Change Anything

142 INFLUENCER

around them—every time they enact vital behaviors. Similarly,
they take steps to ensure that people feel discouraged or even
socially sanctioned when choosing unhealthy behaviors.
The actual methods that influence masters use to exploit
the enormous power of “the fellow in the lab jacket” deserve
a much closer look. Whole literatures are built upon the foun-
dation of social influence. Topics ranging from leadership to
interpersonal influence to group dynamics draw from this
same source of social power.
This being the case, we take care to narrow our search by
first examining how social support can be harnessed for good.
Then we look at three best practices that help magnify the
power of social support. First, we explore how to make use of
that unique group of people who routinely exert more influ-
ence than anyone else—the much-vaunted opinion leaders.
Next, we examine how influence geniuses routinely assail not
people per se, but their shared norms. We’ll see how brilliant
leaders directly attack norms that would otherwise impede vital
behaviors. Finally, we look at what it takes to create an entire
culture of social support.

THE POWER OF ONE
Stanley Milgram clearly demonstrated that one respected indi-
vidual can create conditions that compel ordinary citizens to
act in curious, if not unhealthy, ways. But he also found the
opposite to be true. After discovering that he could propel peo-
ple to act against their own consciences, he began exploring
which variable had the largest impact on compliance. Was it
the size of the room, the look and feel of the electronic
machine, or the distance to the subject? After conducting tests
with over a thousand subjects of every ilk and under every imag-
inable condition, Milgram concluded that one variable more
than any other affected how people behaved: the presence of
one more person.