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Reading Summary
People in Organizations

Harnessing the Science of Persuasion

For the past five decades, behavioral scientists have conducted experiments that
shed considerable light on the way certain interactions lead people to concede, comply, or
change. persuasion works by appealing predictably to deeply rooted human needs. The rest
of us can learn to secure consensus, cut deals, win concessions-by artfully applying six
scientific principles of winning friends and influencing peoples.
Persuasion Principles
Principle
Liking: People like those who

Business Application
To Influence people, win friends: through: Similarity: Create

like them

early bonds with new peers, bosses, and direct reports by

informally discovering common interest-youll establish goodwill
and trustworthiness. Praise: Charm and disarm. Make positive

Reciprocity: People repay in

remarks about others-youll generate more willing compliance

Give what you want to receive: Lend a staff member to a

kind
Social proof: People follow

colleague who needs help; youll get his help later.

Use peer power to influence horizontally not vertically, e.g

the lead of similar others

ask an esteemed old timer to support your new initiative if

Consistency: People fulfill

other veterans resist.

Make other commitments active, public, and voluntary. If

written, public, and voluntary

you supervise an employee who should submit reports on time,

commitments.

get that understanding in writing, make the commitment public,

Authority: People defer to

and link the commitment to the employees values.

Dont assume your expertise is self-evident. Instead,

experts who provide shortcuts

establish your expertise before doing business with new

to decisions requiring

colleagues or partners, e.g in conversations before an important

specialized information

meeting, describe how you solved a problem similar to the one

Scarcity: People value whats

on the agenda.
Use exclusive information to persuade. Influence and rivet

scarce

key players attention by saying, for example Just got this

information today. It wont be distributed until next week.