I was interested in learning more about influence. This title jumped out at me.
Influencer : The Power to Change Anything by Kerry Patterson and 4 other authors is full of stories on how groups and organizations can influence change. They break down their strategies into six sources of influence.
- Make the Undesirable Desirable – Personal Motivation
- Surpass Your Limits – Personal Ability
- Harness Peer Pressure – Social Motivation
- Find Strength in Numbers – Social Ability
- Design Rewards and Demand Accountability – Structural Motivation
- Change the Environment – Structural Ability
Most of the book was interesting, but not that applicable to my life. If I were a manager, director or higher in a company, I think I’d appreciate this book more. The one lesson I took away from this book was the importance of stories. Combining lessons and values into stories have a more powerful effect on influence than telling people what they should do.
If you really dig stories on when influence works and doesn’t work, check out Influencer. If you are more like me, just read Chapter 3.
thomas
Jun 24, 2010 — 12:07 pm
I recently read a book I think you may like. “The Hidden Brain” talks about how your subconscious affects your decisions. It is written in the style of Gladwell. The only problem I see is it is very hard to trick your subconscious and you will likely only know about bad decisions in hindsight.
TigerAl
Jun 24, 2010 — 2:43 pm
I think that I mentioned that I took the class that was based on the book. I found it very interesting and useful.
MAS
Jun 25, 2010 — 11:10 am
@thomas – thanks for the book recommendation.
@TigerAl – I think I would appreciate this book more if I was part of an organization. Since 2002, I have either been self-employed or worked for super small companies in a non-managerial role.