3 psychological hacks

Another

On the roads of Australia, these trucks are a common sight. What’s notable is not the sheer size of these things, but the distinctive branding on the rear.

Every Australian on the roads has been told, at some point, that they “are passing another Fox”.

Lindsay Fox is the 85-year-old billionaire who owns Australia’s largest privately held logistics business and this sign is on the back of every one of his 5000 trucks. What’s notable is that he started his business in 1956. With one truck. And, even on that one truck, he had the same sign, “You are passing another Fox”.

You see, even 19-year-old Lindsay had a vision of a fleet, and he advertised it, using a technique known as future-pacing.

Future pacing is a clever linguistic device that takes someone’s thinking to a point in future. Think about the difference between, “If we meet the objectives, we’ll . . . ” and “When we meet the objectives, we’ll . . .”. Or how this language pattern, “You’ll be able to . . .” is more powerful than, “You might be able to . . . “

Question: How can you use future pacing to embed successful expectations?

Are you really afraid?

I was telling a colleague last week that I had won a very large strategy project and that I was feeling a combination of both excitement and fear ahead of starting.

She said, “Is it fear you’re feeling? Or something else?”

She went on to explain that Hebrew differentiates at least two types of fear. One is pachad, which is the mostly irrational fear of an imagined situation (like a potential humiliation) that makes us feel small and defensive. But, the other is yirah, which is the fear felt when we are on the precipice of greatness, in possession of more capability than we’re used to, or about to inhabit a larger space than usual.

I loved this distinction, as yirah fits perfectly with what I was feeling: a tantalising sense of a future I can’t see, overlaid with a strong tingle of excitement. Her re-frame was powerful as, in an instant, it made me feel powerful, rather than incapable.

Question: What emotion can you reframe to something more helpful simply by renaming it?

Sentient

I was with Alan Weiss at a Sentient Strategy workshop in Brisbane last week and, during lunch, the conversation turned to ways in which people, not organisations, heighten sentience (or awareness) of their external environments.

One consultant told a fascinating story of former Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, whose long-standing PA scheduled 10-minute blocks between meetings. In these, she would allow various politicians and others access to Howard for short, incidental conversations, which was also possible because the corridor to her desk was openly accessible. In this way, Howard kept a close, and continuous, ‘ear to the ground’.

His successor, Tony Abbott, however, had different ideas. He closed off the corridor. Then he removed the 10-minute blocks. Finally, he sacked the PA.

All Australians will know that Howard turned out to be our second-longest serving PM ever, while Abbott’s time in power lasted less than two years.

Question: What can you do to be more sentient to factors inside — and outside — your organisation?

You know what I’m going to ask you to do, don’t you?

Please click the ‘like’ below, as it tells me - and others - that you’ve, well, liked what you’ve read. And also drop me a line below about your own experience of fear, or sentience, or future-pacing. I’d love to hear what you’ve done yourself.

Enjoy the week ahead, and see you next Friday,

Andrew