Breaking the Barriers: How to Effectively Change Someone's Mind

The Daunting Work of Changing Someone’s Mind

Within your role of leadership, do you find it challenging to change the mind of a peer or someone you lead? I certainly do. An idea can seem so clear in my mind yet seems absolutely unapparent to the other person. This is especially frustrating when it involves a behavior or mindset that is not in alignment with a healthy work culture or initiatives that are not getting met. Many times it is simply resistance to change. We like what is familiar.

If I review my own past strategies, they have involved giving a person more information, providing stronger arguments, or laying out additional facts. “If they just have more information, they would change their mind!” Or so I think. And what usually happens? My strategy backfires as that person only becomes more entrenched in their ideas or behaviors.

Would you like a better solution? How about one idea that is easy to implement and can be used today?

What You Need Is a Catalyst

I recently finished Jonah Berger’s thought-provoking book, The Catalyst: How to Change Anyone’s Mind. Practical examples. Easy to read. Ready-now ideas. Each chapter lays out a key roadblock or barrier to why people struggle to change their minds. And with each roadblock, multiple solutions are presented.?

His use of “catalyst” is an interesting term within the narrative of changing a mind. It is not about being more convincing or knowing how to persuade. Berger says, “Instead, it’s about … changing minds by removing the roadblocks or barriers that keep people from taking action.”

Here is one barrier and one tool to help lower that barrier.

A common roadblock for why people struggle to change their minds is due to endowment — and we all know this concept. It simply means that people are emotionally tied to what they are already doing. You know the term: status quo. To change means to expend energy or effort to create momentum that moves a person in a different direction.?

In a word? Difficult.?

And though we may have convincing arguments, people locked into a status quo mindset are seemingly impossible to move.?

The Status Quo Is Not as Costless as It May Appear

One practical solution by Berger is surfacing the cost of inaction. In other words, sticking with the status quo is not as safe as it may seem and there may actually be a downside. It is not as costless as it may appear on the surface.?

Last September I played ultimate frisbee with a group of guys. All good and no injuries … at least none that I immediately recognized. Days later my right knee was giving me trouble. It became very painful to step up or down and put weight on it. It was one of those mediocre injuries — it was frustrating but I was not going to go to the doctor just to hear “Give it some rest.”

The status quo was bad but not horrible — and so I took no action. I just hoped for the best for it to heal. But you know what caused me to change my mind and do something? The cost of inaction. For me, doing nothing meant that it was going to impact two activities that I love: mountain biking and hiking. There was a high cost to my inaction. That was enough to motivate me to go online and find some self-help solutions using specific knee exercises. The pain is now gone.

Doing nothing had both a downside and a cost. And reframing my problem was what compelled me to change my mind.

Conclusion

Examples of people you know who are stuck in the status quo are certainly more consequential than my knee injury. They might be disrupting a team dynamic or slowing down necessary change. But using a catalyst, such as the cost of inaction, can motivate these people to change with less effort, not more, and more likely produce the results you are looking to see.?

At Your Creative People, we understand that moving your clients from inaction to action can be a challenging process when mindsets are entrenched in what they are currently doing. You realize they might be stuck in the status quo and missing new opportunities to grow their business or better serve their customers. To learn more about how our expertise can help you lower barriers, visit our website at www.yourcreativepeople.com.