Understanding Persuasion

 Understanding Persuasion

“Few are open to conviction, but the majority of men are open to persuasion”
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Smart people know that managing by decree does not work with baby boomers
and Gen-Xers, who will not tolerate the unquestioned authority of the old commanding-
control environment. Work gets done by people who do not just ask: “What should
I do?”, but who ask: “Why should I do it?” Answering these ‘why’ questions requires
persuasion—a conversational art worth developing.

Effective persuasion is a process which involves negotiating and learning through
which a persuader leads colleagues to a problem’s shared solution. It incorporates
discovery, preparation, and dialogue. It is about testing and revising ideas in concert
with one’s colleagues’ concerns and needs.

The principal purpose of persuasion can be defined as being able to influence or
change one’s attitudes, beliefs or values towards a particular subject/object, so that
these will merge and finally equal the persuader’s thoughts and feelings.

• Attitude = A predisposition to respond to people, ideas, objects, or events in
evaluative ways

Beliefs = The ways people perceive reality to be; our conceptions about what is true
and what is false

Values = People’s most enduring judgments about what’s good and bad in life
The objective of persuasion may range from slight shifts in opinion to complete change
in behavior. But, how does one determine whether one’s goals are persuasive?