Page 168 - The Power to Change Anything

Harness Peer Pressure 157

never dealt directly with productivity. Was that a smart move?
Take a look at what has happened with the vast majority of
America’s skilled trade jobs over the past couple of decades, and
you’ll probably conclude that remaining silent about the issue
was a huge mistake.
To see what we should have done to solve the productivity
problem, let’s return to the Indian village of Lutsaan and revisit
the mechanism through which the radio drama Tinka, Tinka
Sukh affected public opinion. And although it’s true that the
villagers didn’t face a productivity challenge, they did run into
a powerful social norm that caused many of them great pain,
and their problem was also completely undiscussable.
In one of the Tinka, Tinka Sukh story lines a beloved char-
acter was not allowed an education, forced to marry young, and
died in child birth. As a result of the poignant episodes, the lis-
teners in the village of Lutsaan were propelled to find a way to
change the long-held practice of marrying young. But what
actually brought about this tremendous change in norms?
According to Dr. Arvind Singhal, the power of the show
stemmed from its ability to force an undiscussable topic into
the public discourse. Long-settled beliefs were suddenly
opened to question and discussed at every corner, workstation,
and shop—and eventually reshaped.
Before the airing of the episodes, millions of people had
placed pressure on their friends, children, and coworkers to
continue to honor the traditions of their past. This was peer
pressure at its strongest. Some people had already changed their
views on the treatment of young girls, but it was difficult for
them to share their differing views openly without falling vic-
tim to public ridicule for not honoring their past. Many peo-
ple were uncertain about the tradition and wanted to be able
to talk it through, but once again, it just wasn’t done.
Entertainment education specialists applied the power of
vicarious stories to the issue. They didn’t preach the evils of
the traditional treatment of girls because, as we all know,