Wisdom from “How Minds Change: The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion and Persuasion” by David McRaney

Why do we want to change the other person’s mind?
Why is this important?

THE THREE PILLARS of COMMUNICATION

TRANSPARENCY
Transparency, as used in science, engineering, business, the humanities and in other social contexts, is operating in such a way that it is easy for others to see what actions are performed. Transparency implies openness, communication, and accountability.

CURIOUSITY
For teams, greater curiosity can increase efficiency and productivity, reduce group conflict and decision-making errors, and create an environment that is better able to accept new members into the team and embrace diversity among them.

COMPASSION
Compassion is simply a kind, friendly presence in the face of what’s difficult. Its power is connecting us with what’s difficult—it offers us an approach that differs from the turning away that we usually do. We begin with empathy—that feeling of connection. When we can acknowledge the commonality of the human condition, something beautiful happens: we diminish the subtle cruelty of indifference.

We ache for the freedom to safely disagree – to open both sides to effectively consider challenging ideas.
Changing our minds is our greatest strength as a species.
Contact changes minds – before minds can change concerning members of a minority or an outgroup, the must make true contact by meeting under equal status, sharing common goals, engaging in informal interactions, routinely co-operating to meet shared goals and having their concerns be recognized and addressed by an authority that can really help them.

We don’t like to learn because we just don’t like the lesson. The ideas that change the world are in the heads of the people who refuse to give up. The key to changing anything is persistence.

NEVER PUT THE HAMMER DOWN,
JUST KEEP BANGING.

Written by Pam