The Influence Equation
The INFLUENCE EQUATION sets out a simple, yet compelling and useable approach for anyone who needs to create strategies and practical plans that capture attention, encourage collaboration and deliver change. The central message is to think about influence and change the...
The INFLUENCE EQUATION sets out a simple, yet compelling and useable approach for anyone who needs to create strategies and practical plans that capture attention, encourage collaboration and deliver change.
The central message is to think about influence and change the same way an artist thinks about color. Artists know they can create any color by combining varying quantities of one of the three primary ones: red, yellow and blue. Similarly, it’s possible to create effective influence and change strategies and plans by combining the optimal mix of evidence, economics and emotions.
The session explores each of these components in turn, offering a plethora of rich insights and useable tools.
Evidence: People are never persuaded by evidence by itself. They are influenced by what evidence is compared to, who delivers it, and how much (volume).
Economics: People respond to incentives, but not always in the way leaders hope or predict. Factors like frequency, timing, and ownership have an outsized and largely predictable influence — often more than the amount on offer.
Emotion: The way people answer hard questions is by answering an easier one that wasn’t asked. “What should I do?” becomes “How do I feel?” People’s emotions become the dominant data. Skilled communicators know this and plan their approaches accordingly. I explore how emotion is at the center of change and the tools and techniques that matter most when leading and communicating change.
