Page 78 - The Power to Change Anything

Change the Way You Change Minds 67

In the short run subjects made minor adjustments, but fear
itself didn’t lead to lasting change.
The same is very likely to be true for a current spate of TV
ads that show shocking scenes of people in body bags or vivid
pictures of lungs that have been destroyed by smoking. These
poignant commercials, no matter how many video awards they
may garner, are also unlikely to change long-term habits if they
don’t offer viewers an option for the next steps to take to avoid
these terrible ends. Although the pictures are vibrant, they fail
to tell the whole story. They don’t tell people how to solve the
problem, and when you leave out the solution, people typically
block out the message.
So, when trying to help people view the world in a more
complete and accurate way, couple your stories of the harsh
realities you’re facing with equally concrete and vivid plans that
offer hope. Tell the whole story. Provide hope.

Combine Stories and Experiences

We’ve focused a lot here on the power of stories to change
minds. However, frequently the story may be enough to help
people open their minds, but may not entirely change their
minds. In these cases, master influencers use stories as a first
step to inviting others into sharing personal experiences.
Personal experiences are far less efficient at creating change
since they often take substantial resources to orchestrate. But
as we saw with the cynical manufacturing team, you can com-
bine the direct experience of a few with the stories they can
then tell to others to magnify a modest influence investment.
Vicarious narratives can be used in combination with
actual experience to great advantage. In fact, stories are often
told for the sole purpose of propelling people into their own
personal experience. Consider the work of Dr. Don Berwick,
clinical professor of pediatrics and health care policy at Harvard
Medical School, and head of the Institute for Healthcare