Category: Lateral Leadership & Persuasion

Get Someone Else to Do the Work

Mark Twain One of the most famous scenes from Mark Twain’s book, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, is when Tom has to whitewash a fence as a punishment.  His friend Ben Rogers comes along to ridicule him about having to work.  Tom ignores him and concentrates on painting, so Ben eventually asks if he likes doing it.  Tom replies, “Like it? Well, I don’t see why I oughtn’t to like it. Does... Read More--

Write Your Future News Report

Image by Neven Divkovic from Pixabay If you are planning a major change, a big initiative, a new product launch or something really innovative then try writing a future news story.  Imagine that the project has been a surprisingly big success.  A reporter in a major newspaper or on TV files a glowing report.  Write it up.  It should include.  How unexpectedly successful it has been.  The remarkable... Read More--

Disasters can open the door for Innovation

A catastrophe produces an unexpected set of circumstances and this can lead to opportunities for innovation. In January 1992 a container with 29,000 plastic bath toys was washed overboard in the Pacific Ocean. They were manufactured in China and were on route to the USA. They were called Floatees, bath toys consisting of red beavers, green frogs, blue turtles and yellow ducks. Unlike many bath... Read More--

Improve your Persuasion. The Power of Because.

Ellen Langer is a social psychologist and a professor in the Psychology Department at Harvard University. She has been described as the “mother of mindfulness” – a term she coined in her book Mindfulness (1989). She has written extensively on the illusion of control, aging, stress, decision-making and health. Ellen Langer In the 1970s she conducted a famous experiment in the psychology of persuasion.... Read More--

How to Write your Ideal Elevator Pitch

How would you describe to a stranger what your organisation does? When you meet someone at a social or networking event and they ask about your company what do you say? Take a moment to write down how you would portray your organisation in one sentence. Many people give very bland statements or quote from their company mission or advertising tag lines. The elevator pitch is a phrase coined to describe... Read More--

Ten Great Ways to Crush Creativity

How to Deter Creative Thinking and Innovation Business managers have much more power than they realize. They can patiently create a climate of creativity or they can crush it in a series of subtle comments and gestures. Their actions send powerful signals. Their responses to suggestions and ideas are deciphered by staff as encouragement or rejection. If you want to crush creativity in your organization... Read More--

Try coming at the problem from a different direction; think laterally

Lateral thinking is a phrase coined by Edward de Bono in contrast to conventional or vertical thinking. In conventional thinking we go forward in a predictable, direct fashion. Lateral thinking involves coming at the problem from new directions – literally from the side. De Bono defines the four main aspects of lateral thinking as follows: The recognition of dominant polarizing ideas. The search... Read More--

Use a Fake Failure to Boost your Chance of Success

I heard this story from creative thinking expert, Jurgen Wolff.  Steve Loranger, CEO of ITT Industries, shared this technique with Business 2.0:  “If you’re working on an important contract, a ‘must-win’ program, give your team a much shorter deadline than actually exists. Afterward you tell your team, ‘I just got a phone call from the buyer today and he told us that... Read More--

Use the Three Greeks to improve your Powers of Persuasion

We often find ourselves in a position where we need to influence other people. We might want to change their mind, to sell them on an idea or to secure their agreement to a proposal. A fruitful way to approach these situations is to use the three Greeks, ancient concepts that are proven to work. In my experience most people use only one of the three Greeks and they would be much more effective if they... Read More--