Kerry Patterson - Influencer: the power to change anything. - Description based on print version record

The Power To Change Anything

Kerry PattersonJoseph Grenny
David MaxfieldRon McMillanAl Switzler

Copyright 2008 by VitalSmarts, LLC. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978-0-07-159245-1
MHID: 0-07-159245-8

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We dedicate this book to influencers everywhereto the tenacious scholars and practitioners who, through the careful blending of theory and experience, have not only added to an ever-growing knowledge of how things work, but have also curbed the cynics smirk, restored hope, and made it possible for each of us to become a powerful agent of change.

Choose influence over serenity.

A small group of remarkable leaders and scholars has been quietly changing the world by influencing peoples behavior.

Big problems succumb to changes in just a few behaviors.

Changing behavior requires changing minds.

The six sources of influence

Personal Motivation
Overcome reluctance and resistance by connecting to values.

Personal Ability
New behavior requires new skills. Overinvest in learning how to master skills and emotions.

Social Motivation
Enlist leaders, partner with opinion leaders, and become an opinion leader yourself.

Social Ability
Amplify influence through just-in-time teamwork.

Structural Motivation
Modestly and intelligently reward early successes. Punish only when necessary.

Structural Ability
Harness the pervasive and invisible power of environment to support new behavior.

Overdetermine success by implementing multiple sources of influence.

Influencer

The Power To Change Anything

For more than two decades weve felt an obligation to write this book. But the thought of capturing the strategies of influence masters worldwide was a daunting task, so we did what many authors have done under similar circumstances. We put off writing as long as we could.

Then three experiences convinced us that we had to write the book. The first took place in 1997 when we were practically knocked over by the results of an influence project wed been working on for the previous 18 months at the Fort Worth Tactical Aircraft Division of Lockheed Martinhome of the F-16 fighter jet. Not only had the intervention been successful, but it had been remarkably successful. We had assisted leaders in attempts to influence a handful of key behaviors and, sure enough, the behaviors had improved substantially. More importantly, so had key outcomes ranging from productivity, to costs, to quality, and employee satisfaction.

With the completion of this successful change project, we had now demonstrated on over two dozen separate projects that when leaders apply sound influence theory to vexing organizational problems, they can dramatically improve results. By 1997 over a quarter of a million employees from these two dozen companies had been touched in ways that improved not only their organizations, but also their personal lives.

We received a second nudge to write a book about influence when we initiated a study to uncover every intervention we could find that had successfully influenced behavior change in organizations. As we pored over the rather massive body of literature, we learned there were embarrassingly few examples of leaders who had been successful at influencing employees to act in new ways. Most of the influence books and articles we found sounded as if they had been penned by prophets of doom rather than professors of change.

But this didnt make any sense. It wasnt as if behavior change was a new topic. For more than five decades social scientists and skilled practitioners had amassed an impressive literature that demonstrated that influence efforts, when based on sound theory and implemented by a knowing practitioner, had routinely led to lasting improvements. Perhaps it was time we located these individuals and shared their methods.