Page 154 - The Power to Change Anything

Harness Peer Pressure 143

Dr. Milgram learned that if a confederate either shocked
the person all the way to 450 volts or stood up to the authority
figure, it dramatically affected how the research subjects acted.
He could increase the already stunning 65 percent of all-the-
wayers to 90 percent if only one other person (a confederate)
gave a full dose of power just before the subject had a turn at
the machine. Equally important, he discovered that the num-
ber who would administer the full shock dropped to a mere 10
percent if one person before him or her refused to do so. Either
way, it just took one person to turn the tide of compliance.
This finding paints a much brighter picture of humanity
and offers us a wonderful influence tool. To harness the
immense power of social support, sometimes you need to find
only one respected individual who will fly in the face of his-
tory and model the new and healthier vital behaviors.
Here’s how this works. We (the authors) once watched the
power of stepping out against the norm at a large defense con-
tracting firm. At this company the CEO was trying to transform
a rather timid culture into one where individuals openly stated
their differing opinions as a means of resolving long-standing
problems. After months of lecturing, he faced a moment of
truth. In a meeting of his top 200 managers, the CEO extended
an invitation. “I’ve been told that I’m unapproachable,” he
began. “I am trying to work on it. But to be honest, I don’t know
what it means entirely. I’d appreciate feedback from any of you
who would be willing to help me.”
For a few seconds, the auditorium felt like a morgue. As the
CEO scanned the audience for any takers, he was about
to break the awkward silence and move on when a fellow by
the name of Ken raised his hand. “Sure, Bill. I’ve got some
suggestions.”
With that announcement, the CEO set an appointment to
talk one-on-one with Ken. As you might guess, from that
moment on most of the water-cooler chatter was about the fool-
ish risk Ken had just taken. Pay-per-view could have made a