Influence at Work Blog
Two Types of Proposals. Which One is More Persuasive?
By Steve Martin, CMCT Imagine that you are preparing a proposal for a client and, having researched all the information, equipment, materials and resources that you will need to deliver the job, the time has come to commit to paper the only piece of information your client is really interested in. Your price.
Are Human Decisions Eminently Rational, Hopelessly Irrational, or Neither? By: Dr. Robert Cialdini
There is an intellectual train speeding our way, carrying a revolutionary payload for those who want to truly understand how people make decisions. Douglas Kenrick and Vladas Griskevicius are at the center of this scientific revolution, and their new book The Rational Animal: How Evolution Made Us Smarter Than We Think, gives us the inside […]
Building Co-Operation… Two Important Strategies
By Steve Martin, CMCT Business rarely pauses to take breath and when change happens it can often occur at lighting speed throwing up unexpected challenges. A sudden acquisition can mean that today’s competitor will be tomorrow’s colleague. A change in business model could result in a long-standing rival emerging as the perfect joint venture partner. […]
Why We Agree to and Achieve Goals
By: Steve Martin, CMCT Imagine you need to persuade an individual or a group of people to complete a task that will take time, multiple steps and actions in order to achieve it. Would you be more effective by taking a flexible approach and allowing them to choose the order in which they carry out […]
Harvard Business Review Releases a New Interview on Influence
The Harvard Business Review just published a new interview with Dr. Robert Cialdini on his insights into the uses and abuses of influence by Sarah Cliffe, Executive Editor.
Why Giving First Isn’t Enough and What You Can Do About It.
Inside Influence Report, June 2013 Steve Martin, CMCT. For regular worshipers attending Sunday prayers at St. John’s Church in the parish of Kirkheaton, a Yorkshire village in Northern England, the service on 18th November 2012 seemed like it would be pretty much like any other they had attended in the past. As they entered the […]
How to Move Forward by Stepping Back
By Steve Martin, CMCT Today’s increasingly complex business world can serve up some pretty challenging situations that even the most seasoned of us will find difficult to navigate through. Thankfully though, there’s often a colleague, co-worker or friend who will be happy to pass on the benefit of their wisdom to help you deal […]
How You Can Sabotage Your Own Good Intentions
By Steve Martin, CMCT You do your best to recycle whenever you can, right? Maybe the company you work for has a pro-environmental policy that encourages staff to use less paper and to recycle as much as possible of that which is used. It certainly wouldn’t be alone. Increasing numbers of organizations, communities too, are […]
Just for you, __(insert your name here)__: A Stormy Lesson in Influence
By Steve Martin, CMCT In late October 2012 Hurricane Sandy bulldozed its way through the Caribbean and across the Mid-Atlantic before hitting land again in the North-Eastern United States causing a trail of destruction and devastation in its wake. Violent gusts nearing 100 mph accompanied by lashing rains left widespread damage estimated at over $75 […]
Not Wanting to Miss Out. Why 1 + 1 Sometimes Equals More Than 2
By: Steve Martin As any good economist will tell you, people respond to incentives. But as a behavioral psychologist will also point out, peoples’ responses to incentives will be influenced as much by the context in which an incentive is presented, as what’s actually on offer. For example, people are generally more persuaded by […]
