The Influencer: The Power to Change Anything

Citation

Dean, H. (2009), "The Influencer: The Power to Change Anything", Management Research News, Vol. 32 No. 5, pp. 499-501. https://doi.org/10.1108/01409170910952994

The Influencer: The Power to Change Anything by Patterson, Grenny, Maxfield, McMillan and Switzer is a book about influencing change in differing environments. These five consultants have taken the concept of human behavior change and simplified it so that any of us can look at our own situation and easily apply the process.

Often people think they can't control environments or create significant change in other people's thinking. In this book, the authors have made a real effort to break down this attitude and have outlined specific behaviors that can be implemented in certain groups or populations to achieve success. Although the book targets a general audience, it does seem most relevant to readers in a corporate environment. The authors use several stories to outline their message and, interestingly, only a couple of these involve a corporate setting.

This book fits into the same genre of books as Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point and Blink Daniel Goleman's Social Intelligence Alan Duetshman's Change or Die, Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Nowand Jack Welch's Winning This book provides some rich content with regard to the field of human behavior change research and is based on scientific behavior change methods.

The book is organised into two main parts. Part One is made up of three chapters that look at the importance of being able to influence situations without manipulating communication between various parties. The authors use several vignettes to describe this process. For instance, the authors model lifeguards to identify which significant behaviors save lives. Another example discusses how the AIDS epidemic has been significantly reduced in certain communities by the use of specific ways of influencing others. The authors also discuss the strategies of the Delancey Companies, an organization that employs hardened criminals and reports high levels of success in assisting these workers to reform their behaviors. Part Two consists of six chapters, where the authors describe various ways of managing change. They explore these ideas from a motivational perspective, comparing people's actual abilities with the different levels of ability they display at a personal level, social level and a structural level respectively. They use stories to outline how it is possible to use this model to create change.

Chapter 1 considers several case studies and uses current psychological research to endorse their model of influencing human behavior. The authors describe the need to use more than one method in order to guarantee behavioral change. Chapter 2 examines the behaviors responsible for creating change. Using the AIDS epidemic in Thailand as an example, the authors break down the process of change into its simplest parts, arguing that even complex situations are based on specific and straightforward behaviors. The authors establish the difference between an outcome – what needs to be achieved – and a behavior – what needs to be done. The authors discuss, in detail, the kinds of behaviors found in high‐performance fields. They use the example of high‐performance teachers and identify the attributes of exemplar teachers, compared to lower‐level performers. This second chapter summarizes how the ability to recover and change behaviors is essential to high‐level achievement.

In Chapter 3, the authors discuss how to change other people. Some insightful research is referenced, such as Bandura's work with phobics, to explore how people change under certain conditions. A current example explores how using different mediums such as TV or film to portray specific messages affects how quickly and effectively a certain audience will accept the information. The authors examine the use of metaphors and their role in influencing behavior. The authors identify how people's point of view can be altered, and how their receptivity to new ideas can be enhanced. Ultimately, Part One of this book argues that people will tend to change behavior when they believe doing so will be worthwhile and beneficial. If both these conditions are fulfilled, argue the authors, people should at least try to change.

In Part Two of the book, the authors outline six sources of influence, including personal motivation, personal ability, social motivation, social ability, structural motivation and structural ability. They argue that if an individual can master all six areas, they will be able to promote significant change in any environment or situation. We will now look briefly at how the following six chapters contribute to this argument.

Chapter 4 considers at how to make the “undesirable, desirable”. The authors use several different stories to illustrate how we as human beings change our preferences. One way is to understand more about what drives people. The example used is of a motor company that manufactured cars with serious structural deficiencies, but did not recall the defective vehicles despite the fact that the cost of repairs was modest. The authors argue that connecting behavior to moral values creates a much greater chance of success.

In Chapter 5, the authors address how personal success can be achieved. The Chapter includes some pertinent research about how human beings learn quickly in high‐performance environments, and how the process of learning can be accelerated by breaking down the process into small or granular steps. Moreover, gaining experience in low risk situations can also enhance learning.

Chapter 6 looks at the power of peer pressure, using stories like the Milgram psychological experiment. This experiment involved subjects who believed they were administering an electric shock to another person when told to by an authority figure. Most of the subjects did exactly what they were told, demonstrating that when respectable citizens are told to act in a certain way by some kind of authority figure, they will most often obey the instructions, even if those instruction are inhumane and or irrational. Hence the authors argue that the ability to create social connection with authority figures, whom the authors have termed “opinion leaders”, can make a significant difference to results. Chapter 7 talks about group affinity and how opinions can gain strength in larger groups, where others reinforce the dominant or prevailing ideas.

Chapter 8 discusses the importance of different types of rewards and punishments. The authors argue that small incentives can make significant differences. Moreover, research suggests that what needs to be rewarded is not results, but behaviors. In Chapter 9, the authors discuss the effect of physical environment on individual decision‐making. Several salient examples are offered. In one example, the authors discuss how shipping containers were often only being filled to 45 per cent capacity. However, by putting a “fill to” line at the end of the container, this statistic improved to 95 per cent capacity within a very short space of time. Another example used describes a hospital where a large amount of expensive disposable gloves were in use. When signs were posted, detailing the respective prices of the gloves (the ones that cost 25 cents, and others costing $3.00), waste was reduced and a significant amount of money was saved overnight. Thus, positioning these signs influenced behavior.

In the final chapter, the authors sum up the vital behaviors, discussing how it is possible to link them to the six sources of influence as discussed above. The authors found that it is essential to use a diagnostic process before prescribing any change at all. They argue that when you are using the six sources of influence, you may start off with a couple and may need only those. From there, you may find you need to use more and do more thinking. They discuss how to put it all together to achieve a particular goal in any environment. The final story sums up how in business you need to look at several areas: people's personal ability and skill sets, the areas that drive them personally and their motivators, how groups are motivated socially and the fact that many people don't have great social skills. They discuss how you can create structures to motivate and change the abilities of people and leaders, and how effective this is for creating significant change.

The Influencer: the Power to Change Anything explores a significant amount of research about human behavior. The author's points are clearly made, using simple stories to describe complex human traits. It is possible, however, that some people may find parts difficult to comprehend due to the complex psychological research quoted in the book. Fortunately, much of the book uses language suitable for readers who are unfamiliar with change management vocabulary. Overall, the book provides a good template for anyone wanting to understand how human beings make decisions, and how information can be used to create and influence almost any situation. It is always challenging to convey such a large amount of information in one book, but the authors have managed to do this well. One area that may have been enhanced is the use of more compelling corporate examples; however, it is acknowledged that often the area of corporate confidentiality is an issue and relevant examples may be problematic to obtain. I recommend this book to anyone in business or project management who needs to create and influence change quickly.