Creative Persistence

The “availability heuristic” — our tendency to use information that comes readily to mind when making judgments — is an important principle of influence. I saw the power of this principle in my kitchen the other night.

For context, you need to understand that my home is like a vaudeville show most nights of the week. It has the feel of an open mic event, and I play a variety of characters, each of them a cartoonish exaggeration of some recognizable social archetype.

I cannot claim my act is universally appreciated. I find it hilarious, but to my long-suffering wife and two daughters, the antics are an ongoing source of mild irritation. Paradoxically, I find this motivating. For me, and I think for many fathers, it's deeply satisfying to elicit eye-rolls and head-shakes from the rest of the family.

"Stosh" is one of my favorite characters, and he usually comes out at dinner time. Stosh is bubbly, theatrical, and fabulous. He hams it up to the hilt when offering a second portion, saying "Whoooo wants some?" as he suspends his spoon above the serving dish.?Each and every time he does so, he is greeted with blank, unimpressed stares, as if he were addressing a wary panel of Garfield cats.

Yet he persists. Every night he comes up with a slightly different way to channel his over-the-top zeal, always building up to the same question: "Whoooo wants some?" He is undaunted by the consistently cool reception, and he has been carrying on like this for years.?

A few weeks ago Stosh took the night off. For once, we were having a "normal" dinner. My wife got up to offer the family some seconds, and then something bizarre and unexpected happened. The spirit of Stosh possessed her. Instead of offering more food in her usual way, she asked: "Whoooo wants some?"

My daughters and I looked at each other in wide-eyed amazement, immediately sensing the significance of this moment, then collapsed on the floor laughing. Begrudgingly, my youngest daughter said, "Dad, you must feel so proud right now." And indeed I was.

In the realm of influence, repetition lays the groundwork for persuasion. When decision-makers are finally ready to evaluate and decide, you want to own a piece of property in their mental real estate. Repetition is what secures that plot of awareness.?

But there are imaginative and unimaginative ways to stay top-of-mind. The most annoying salespeople are those who simply resort to predictable phrases like, "Just following up." The more successful ones look for fresh and thoughtful tactics to keep their clients engaged.?

In life and work, creative persistence pays off.