“I remember I was about to go into the President of our company’s office to pitch an idea that everyone told me he was opposed to. I had the data to show that my idea was correct, but I knew this meeting was not going to be about data. I started the meeting with, “Tom, here are the three biggest reasons why I think my idea will not work”. When I started to explain the third obstacle in our way he interrupted me to explain how he thought we could overcome obstacle number two.
Psychologist would explain that starting with your obstacles disarms the audience. That when people come in with tremendous confidence and talk about how great the idea is that the listener naturally starts to think about ways to poke holes in it. That the listener feels like you are trying to sell them something and that makes them suspicious.
The second advantage that psychologist would point out is that it makes you look smart. That you are not so overconfident in your ideas that you could not see the pitfalls. It proves to the person you are trying to persuade that you took the time to examine the obstacles that must be overcome to make the idea successful.
Thirdly, It shows that you are trustworthy, knowledgeable and honest. Now this could backfire on you if you present an obstacle that your audience was not thinking about, but the truth is that most of the times when hearing a new idea your audience is going to be very skeptical anyhow.
The fourth advantage of starting with your obstacles is that it makes it harder for the audience to think of more problems. You have already given three or four of the major problems and therefore it is very hard to tack on more to your list.
As I finished my presentation with the President he said, “We have overcome bigger obstacles than this. Go ahead with the idea I think it will work.”
So, the next time you have to present a new or controversial idea think about starting with the obstacles first.
That is a very interesting idea, but when pitching ideas to CEOs and other gurus; I would believe the idea should be sold around profit and how littles losses there can be. To most important people money talks. They will obviously see weaknesses if there are any, but turning a weakness to a positive it a concept that can be very easily acquired.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great blog, as usual, but I would like to just thank you for a great first semester of American Government. I appreciate the energy you bring to class ever single day and wish you the best of luck for next semester with the new group of Calvert Hall students. :)
ReplyDeleteJack, thanks for the nice words, I truly enjoyed your class and your participation. Hope you continue to read each Sunday.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a different way to present an idea. It shows that you have put a lot of thought into the idea. It is sort of like what Eminem did in 8 Mile. If you list all the problems with the idea it can be harder to fault what the idea is about. I think that it can bring a positive response that might not have been given if you just presented how great the idea you had was. Thank you for an amazing semester. I really enjoyed the energy you brought to class every day it really helped me stay focused on the information that was being presented.
ReplyDelete-Stephen Ryan
thanks for the kind words truly hope that you continue to read the blog and respond. Enjoyed having you.
ReplyDeleteI read Daniel Pink's "When" recently. He would completely agree with your bad-news-first approach.
ReplyDelete