The Human Element

- Blurb -

This book offers the readers two essential insights. First, readers will discover the four Frictions that operate against their efforts to influence and innovate. They will come to understand the unexpected reasons why the ideas and initiatives they are most passionate about get rejected. Second, readers will learn how to both identify and disarm these forces of resistance. Even better, the reader will discover how to turn the forces of Friction into winds of change. The insights this book offers are important because, as the authors will show, people have the wrong influence intuitions. The conventional approach to influence and catalyzing change is to add or highlight value - to explain the benefits or enhance the appeal. They call this the "sizzle syndrome". The conventional approach is, of course, necessary. But it' s woefully insufficient. Insufficient because it misses not just half the story, but its most important part. Whenever we want to create change, we must first appreciate and respect the forces operating against us. While we might not see them, they are there, quietly undermining and inhibiting our efforts. When we wrongly attempt to overcome these forces by tacking on sizzle to heighten the appeal we inadvertently (and counterintuitively) intensify the very friction we are trying to overcome. Instead, what is needed is to disarm the forces operating against change. To create change, people need to understand the forces working against them. And here' s the exciting thing: once you see the Friction points, you can redesign those very same forces to drive change.