[These blog entries are my notes and takeaways from Jonah Berger’s amazing book, The Catalyst as I apply them to Universal Healthcare.]
This is the case study of the Seeds of Peace group. It is a compelling story about bringing disparate people together and forcing them to live with each other and learn about each other. The changes in the participants was profound and long-lasting.
The final summary in the Epilogue:
Rather than trying to persuade people, they reduce Reactance by encouraging people to persuade themselves. Seeds of Peace has a desired destination in mind, but rather than forcing campers toward it, they allow for agency. They lay out a series of exercises and experiences that let campers pick their own paths to that outcome.
Instead of making a big ask right away, Seeds of Peace works to shrink the Distance. Rather than expecting opposing sides to be friends on day one, the camp starts by asking for less. Just sleep in the same cabin. Eat at the same table. Engage in the same activities and begin a dialogue. These activities help switch the field and find an unsticking point.
In this way, Seeds of Peace also reduces Uncertainty. Not only do they lower the up-front cost, allowing people who would normally fear one another to interact in a safe, neutral environment, they drive discovery. They don’t sit back and hope the two sides interact; they create situations where interactions happen naturally. And the fact that the camp lasts for only a few short weeks makes things reversible. Worst case, campers will be back to their regular lives soon.
Finally, by giving campers multiple interactions with different outgroup members, they provide Corroborating Evidence. Even if Habeeba and an Israeli girl become friends, it’s easy for Habeeba to see the one Israeli girl as unique. Sure, that girl is Israeli, but she’s not like those other Israelis. She’s different. And so Habeeba’s trust toward Israelis in general doesn’t really change. But when Habeeba has positive interactions with multiple Israelis, it’s harder not to shift her attitudes toward them as a group. Meaning that she’s much more likely to trust other Israelis she meets in the future.
Berger points out that we must keep asking ourselves what barriers are in the way? Keep asking how their needs might be different than ours?
Moving boulders takes years to occur. Understanding why people change and why they do not helps us understand how to remove the barriers.
REDUCE REACTANCE How can you allow for agency? Like the truth campaign, encouraging people to chart their path to your destination? Can you provide a menu? Like asking kids whether they want their broccoli or chicken first, can you use guided choices? Like Smoking Kid, is there a gap between attitudes and behavior, and if so, how can you highlight it? Rather than going straight for influence, have you started with understanding? Have you found the root? Like Greg Vecchi, built trust and use that to drive change?
EASE ENDOWMENT What is the status quo and what aspects make it attractive? Are there hidden costs of sticking with it that people might not realize? Like financial advisor Gloria Barrett, how can you surface the costs of inaction? Like Cortés, or Sam Michaels in IT, how can you burn the ships to make it clear that going back isn’t a feasible option? Like Dominic Cummings and Brexit, can you frame new things as regaining a loss?
SHRINK DISTANCE How can you avoid the confirmation bias by staying out of the region of rejection? Can you start by asking for less? Like the doctor who got the trucker to drink less soda, chunking the change and then asking for more? Who falls in the movable middle and how can you use them to help convince others? What would be a good unsticking point and how can you use it to switch the field? Like deep canvassing, by finding a dimension on which there is already common ground to bring people closer?
ALLEVIATE UNCERTAINTY How can you reduce uncertainty and get people to un-pause? Can you lower the barrier to trial? Like Dropbox, can you leverage freemium? Like Zappos, how can you reduce the up-front costs, using test drives, renting, sampling, or other approaches to make it easier for people to experience something themselves? Rather than waiting for people to come to you, can you drive discovery? Like the Acura experience, by encouraging people who didn’t know they might be interested to check it out? Can you reduce friction on the back end by making things reversible? Like Street Tails Animal Rescue did with a two-week trial period, or as others do with lenient return policies?
FIND CORROBORATING EVIDENCE Are you dealing with a pebble or a boulder? How expensive, risky, time-consuming, or controversial is the change you’re asking people to make? How can you provide more proof? Like interventionists, by making sure people hear from multiple sources saying similar things? What similar but independent sources can you call on to help provide more evidence? How can you concentrate them close in time? Making sure people hear from multiple others in a short period? For larger-scale change, should you use a fire hose or a sprinkler? Concentrate scarce resources or spread them out?
Berger, Jonah. The Catalyst: How to Change Anyone’s Mind (p. 227). Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition.
