Influencer – Book Summary – Unlock the Power of Influence: A Deep Dive into Behavior and Change

In almost any situation, there are a few vital behaviors that will determine the outcome of a situation. Understanding what they are holds the key to your success.

In the 1980s in Thailand, an AIDS and HIV epidemic hit the country – much like it did in every corner of the planet. A problem that had started with IV drug users had spread to sex workers and eventually to the general public who frequented the services of the Thai sex workers on a regular basis. They, in turn, infected their unknowing spouses at home. If something wasn’t done, it was estimated that as many as 1 in 4 Thai citizens would be infected with the deadly virus. Thanks to a brilliant researcher by the name of Dr. Wiwat, this nightmare never became a reality.

At first, they did the logical thing and held information sessions and blanketed the country in a concerted PR effort. Surely, if the public knew of the potential threat, they would change their ways. Not so – the epidemic only got worse in the face of these efforts.

Then, Dr. Wiwat and his team had a flash of insight. If they could get the Thai sex workers to wear condoms, the epidemic would have almost no chance to spread, as they were the main conduits of the disease to the general public. So, instead of focusing their efforts on educating the general public, they focussed their efforts on getting the sex workers to adopt a zero-tolerance policy – no condom, no sex.

Dr. Wiwat’s team – and thousands of other influencers around the world – have discovered that in order to change any situation, you must focus on the vital behaviors that need to change. How do you figure out which behaviors need to change? Take a look at the instances where there is a “positive deviance”. In whatever large-scale problem you are looking to solve, it is likely that there are some small pockets of the population (or places within your company) that have already cracked the code – sometimes unwittingly. Studying those people and situations will give you the necessary insight to at least start to understand the challenge.

If finding a few vital behaviors and changing them is critical, we’ll need to understand how people change their behaviors in the first place. Psychological research has shown that people choose their behaviors based on what they believe will happen to them as a result of their actions. For example, if you have a snake phobia, you might believe that if you touch a snake it will instantly coil itself around your neck and choke you to death. Of course, this isn’t a rational thought, but it is the thought of snake phobics nonetheless. So, in order to change behaviors, you need to change these maps of cause and effect.

You need to help people answer two questions if you are to do this:

1. Is it worth it for me to change this behavior, and
2. Can I actually do it?

Your first reaction to cure a person with a snake phobia would be to resort to verbal persuasion. You could come up with a million and one great reasons why it would be better to be without the phobia and tell them over and over why you think they could do it. But for those of you who’ve tried to influence somebody you know using this technique, you know it doesn’t work in emotionally charged situations like a deadly fear of snakes (or accountability or public speaking). You need to up the ante. The greatest persuader of all time is personal experience. So, your goal here isn’t to persuade them that they need to change their behavior, but that they should give it a shot – just once.

If you are unable to create a personal experience, you must create a vicarious experience through the use of an emotional story. The reason that you need to use emotional stories and not logic and statistics is that people cannot resist empathizing with the person who is the star of the story. Tell an emotional story about a 68-year-old lady who breaks down in tears when she finally breaks an addiction to alcohol and how it transforms her life immediately – we can’t help but get caught up in the drama. We feel the emotions of the story and make them our own. The key is to make a link between the current behaviors that you want to change, and what they will be missing out on if they don’t change those behaviors.

So, motivation and ability are the two main questions that need to be answered and made real. Next, we focus on the 3 different levels both of those questions need to be answered – the personal, social, and structural levels.

 Personal Motivation

At the personal level, the first thing you need to do is make undesirable, desirable. Let’s take the example of moving from an unhealthy life of junk food and TV watching to a life of healthy eating and exercise.

First, when you find yourself facing an irrational thought pattern – like all vegetables taste like dirt and I will never like them – you need to simply immerse them in the behavior you want. Get them to taste some vegetables that you know they’ll find delicious. Again, in situations like these, your goal is to get them to try it.

Second, you might come up against the situation where you are trying to introduce new behaviors that will never be viewed as a positive experience the first time they go through it – like running on a treadmill for 30 minutes when you’ve never been on one in your life. The key here is to focus on the achievement that will be accomplished and the connection to the values that the people hold. For instance, a parent will want to be physically fit in order to do activities with their children like playing at the park. Remind them of that on a regular basis.

Lastly, if nothing seems to get through to the person, it’s likely that you haven’t taken the time to truly understand what they want. If you take the time to listen to what they actually want, you’ll be able to connect the desired behaviors to what they want. You might be surprised to find out that not everybody has the same desires and dreams that you do – don’t assume.

Influencer – Personal Ability

Sometimes there will be a gap in ability standing in the way of what a person wants to accomplish, and what they actually can accomplish. The first thing to understand here is that almost any skill can be learned if you give yourself enough time. Let’s say that the parent who wants to get healthy also wants to run a marathon one day, even though they’ve never run more than 100 meters to catch the bus on a rainy day.

First, you must be able to set goals around clear, specific, and repeatable actions. For instance, if you were learning how to improve your golf swing, focussing on keeping your elbow in is a much better goal than “I’m going to get rid of my slice”. So, take the time to learn the specific actions you need to take in order to improve and you’ll be well on your way.

Second, insist on immediate feedback against clear standards. This goes against most of what we’ve experienced growing up in the educational system, with long periods of time between tests to see how we are progressing. Test yourself regularly, and make adjustments as necessary. This is the only way to understand where are off track and what you need to change to be successful.

Lastly, whatever you are setting out to accomplish, you need to prepare yourself for setbacks. If it’s worth doing, you are going to face some challenges.

Social Motivation

The people who make up your social networks have a large amount of influence on your life, whether you like it or not. Praise, rejection, encouragement, and resistance from these people in large part determine the success or failure of your mission.

That’s why you need to understand the power of social motivation and how to get it working for you, instead of against you. Although it might be tempting to try and curry favor with the entire group of people you are trying to motivate behavior change in, there’s often a handful of people who can serve as a proxy for the entire group. These people are the opinion leaders of the group, and if you convince them of the need for change, you will often get the entire group’s buy-in.

Social Ability

There are quite a number of situations when you need to tap your social capital to actually create the change you want to see. First, when other people are part of the problem, change is difficult. For instance, sometimes number of people who are actually causing the problem (like spousal abuse, for instance), but the number of people who sit idly by and let it happen without recourse is much larger. In a situation like that, you’d need to enlist the entire group of people who would typically sit by and do nothing if you want things to change.

Second, there may be situations where you simply can’t succeed on your own – where you require the actions of others in order to succeed. For instance, creating a finished product at a software company requires a lot of people to work together in concert. In that situation, making a change in one faction of the team is not sufficient to have an impact on the quality of the entire project.

Asking for help has not been an accepted part of our culture. In some places, asking for help is akin to admitting defeat. However savvy influencers know that reaching out for help when they need it is the only path to success. So, practice flexing your social muscles and learn how to ask for help.

Structural Motivation

Structural Motivation is all about designing rewards and demanding accountability. The easiest thing to jump to would be extrinsic rewards like money. However, as the authors point out, that isn’t the first or even second thing you should think of – it should be the third thing. The first thing that influencers do is ensure that the vital behaviors that are necessary are linked to intrinsic satisfaction – the desired behavior should be rewarding in and of itself. Then, they line up social support. Then, and only then, do they think about extrinsic rewards.

When you are thinking about extrinsic rewards, the key is to think about small rewards that are tied to vital behaviors, and that are administered quickly. Catching people in the act and rewarding them then and there is much more powerful than “employee of the year” awards. Also be sure to reward the vital behaviors, not just the results that people produce. If you are certain that the behaviors are in fact vital, there will be times when they don’t produce the desired results – but you’ll want to reward that behavior anyway so that the vital behavior continues into the future.

Lastly, influencers understand that people need to be held accountable if change is going to happen. However, influencers are careful not to administer punishments too often, and will always place a “shot across the bow” before any actual punishment is doled out. Then, if the behavior isn’t changed, they will administer the punishment. There is a fine line here – if you are too liberal and don’t punish bad behavior, the people you are trying to rally will eventually get demotivated. However, using too much punishment will have the same effect. Tread the line carefully.

Structural Ability

Structural ability is all about changing the physical environment so that vital behaviors become easier to take. The impact of the physical world on our behavior is much more profound than we could ever imagine. However, much like a fish is the last to discover it is living in water, we humans are slow to figure out that our physical environment can be changed to promote vital behaviors.

The key is to start noticing how the physical environment is affecting behaviors. For instance, how much food you eat isn’t really a function of how full it makes you feel, but how full the environmental factors around you make you feel. Try eating your next meal on a plate that’s half the size of your current dinnerware. You’ll be amazed at how different the experience is just by changing how the food is served.

You can also influence your environment by understanding the power of data. Serving up the right data at the right time can be an extremely powerful tool. Change the numbers you look at, and you’ll immediately change your behavior. For instance – imagine going to a professional hockey game that had no score – do you think that the game would be played differently?

Influence is something that we all strive for. It’s not a simple thing to learn or do, but if you work at it long enough you’ll have the ability to change any situation that you find yourself in. There can be no greater skill, in our humble opinion, that a leader can have in their tool belt.

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If you enjoy the book summary, you might really like our nancourses. Here is an example of the nanocourse for this book summary.

Title: Be a Master Influencer

Proof: This playbook is inspired by the insights from the book “Influence”. The authors delve deep into the art and science of influence, drawing from real-world examples and research to uncover the secrets of truly influential individuals. They explore the nuances of behavior change and the power dynamics at play in various situations.

Principle: Influence is not merely about holding a title or position but understanding the intricate dynamics of human behavior and motivation. By identifying vital behaviors that drive outcomes and addressing them at personal, social, and structural levels, one can wield significant influence. True influencers recognize the importance of both motivation and ability, and they strategically leverage the environment, social networks, and intrinsic rewards to foster desired behaviors.

Promise: By mastering the principles of influence, you can effectively drive change in any situation, be it in business, personal life, or societal challenges. This mastery equips you with the tools to reshape behaviors, inspire action, and achieve desired outcomes.

Playbook:

1. Identify Vital Behaviors: Analyze the situation and pinpoint the few critical behaviors that determine outcomes. For example, in a health crisis, instead of broad public awareness, focus on specific behaviors like consistent hand-washing.
2. Understand Personal Motivation: Dive deep into personal desires and values. If someone resists a healthy lifestyle, connect the change to their personal goals, like spending quality time with family.
3. Develop Personal Ability: Set clear, specific, and repeatable goals. For someone aiming to run a marathon, start with short, achievable runs, gradually increasing the distance.
4. Leverage Social Motivation: Identify and engage opinion leaders within a group. Their buy-in can influence the broader community’s behavior.
5. Harness Social Ability: Recognize the power of collective action. Encourage collaboration and seek help when necessary, breaking cultural barriers that see asking for help as a weakness.
6. Optimize Structural Motivation: Link behaviors to intrinsic satisfaction first, then to social support, and finally to extrinsic rewards. Reward behaviors promptly and ensure accountability.
7. Modify Structural Ability: Alter the physical environment to make desired behaviors easier. For instance, rearrange a workspace to promote collaboration or use smaller plates to encourage controlled food portions.
8. Utilize Data: Present relevant data at the right moments to influence decisions. Highlighting specific metrics can shift focus and drive desired actions.

Prompt:

Can you recall a situation where you successfully influenced a group or individual?
What strategies did you employ, and how did understanding their motivations play a role in your approach?

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P.S. If you need more support in creating positive habits in work or in life reach out to me or one of the many other amazing coaches on coach.me to get support.