The Small Big

Small Changes That Spark Big Influence

Steve Martin
Profile Books © 2015
302 pages
[@] getab.li/29498
Book:

Rating Take-Aways

8
9 Applicability • People make decisions based not only on information, but on the presentation
of information.
7 Innovation
7 Style • Patients were more apt to keep their appointments with doctors when front-desk staffers
asked them to write down the date, time and place.

• “Social proof” explains why people want to behave like those around them.
 
Focus • People will be likelier to keep their promises if you ask them to “own”
that responsibility.

Leadership & Management • Once they have committed to an agreement, people are reluctant to back out of even a
Strategy bad deal.
Sales & Marketing
• For more productive meetings, ask for information ahead of time, use a checklist, pay
Finance attention to seating arrangements and have the leader speak last.
Human Resources
IT, Production & Logistics • Since appearance conveys authority, wear business attire to meet prospective clients.
Career & Self-Development
• Meetings that you hold in your office will tend to turn out more favorably for you.
Small Business
Economics & Politics • When doing favors for colleagues, use the “principle of reciprocity” to your advantage.
Industries
• Make the first move in a negotiation so you set the parameters of the discussion.
Global Business
Concepts & Trends

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getabstract

getabstract
Relevance
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What You Will Learn
In this book summary, you will learn:r1) What ethical strategies you can use to alter other people’s behavior; 2) How
scientific research supports certain persuasive techniques; and 3) How to bring about significant change in others’
actions without expending a lot of time, money or effort.
getabstract
Recommendation
Using persuasiveness to alter another person’s behavior doesn’t require a monumental effort. Little things often foster
the biggest shifts. As United Kingdom-based behavioral scientists and professors Steve J. Martin, Noah J. Goldstein
and Robert B. Cialdini demonstrate, minor changes in everyday life can yield significant changes in the way people
act. Drawing from an abundance of scientific research, they provide intriguing insight into human behavior and
offer telling examples of how to alter other people’s actions. getAbstract recommends this fascinating educational
experience to managers, marketers and anyone who needs to persuade.
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getabstract
Summary
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How Persuasion Works
If you believe that you must mount a major campaign and spend lavishly to change
the behavior of your staff or customers, think smaller. Little tweaks in how you present
information, how you frame the action you wish to encourage and how you suggest that
people view each other can bring about significant shifts in behavior. However, these
getabstract desirable changes in behavior don’t result from random acts. A communicator can make
“A small change in the
setting, framing, timing
a message more effective by making deliberate but minor strategic adjustments. You can
or context of how change the way people behave without spending time, money or effort. For big changes,
information is conveyed take small steps, as in the following examples.
can dramatically alter
how it is received and
acted upon.”
getabstract
Right on the Money
For years, officials in Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) department in Great
Britain used a traditional approach to coax citizens to pay their taxes on time, including
assessing late fees, charging interest and taking legal measures. But in 2009, HMRC
collected roughly 30% more than in 2008. It added a single sentence to its correspondence,
telling recipients about the sizable number of people who remit their taxes promptly.

By adding this fact, HMRC capitalized on the behavioral phenomenon of “social proof.”
People identify with the actions of those nearby. Social proof springs from the desire to
getabstract make the right decision, to associate with others and to gain their approval. For example,
“The longer we know people donate more to a street musician when they see others donating first.
someone, the less likely
it is that we will be able
to accurately predict Sometimes people prefer to disassociate from the majority, for instance, when they distance
their preferences.”
getabstract themselves from the public actions of a socially undesirable group. When students from a
dorm of “geeks” began wearing a charity armband, 32% of the students in a less-academic
dorm quit wearing it. If your company seeks to expand its market appeal, make sure
association with your new customers won’t repel your current customer base.

The effectiveness of your message depends on how you frame it. People pay more attention
to the ramifications of deviating from the social norm and they assume that conforming

The Small Big                                                                                                                                                                         getAbstract © 2017 2 of 5

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 won’t bring negative consequences. For example, a health club might tell new members
that it asks current members to throw their towels in the laundry baskets instead of on the
floor – and that those who don’t use the hampers are being insensitive. Take your audience’s
getabstract views of “normal” into account before you label actions as deviating from the norm.
“The strongest context
for encouraging
desirable behaviors Can graffiti on the walls of an alley affect whether people drop litter there? About 33% of
comes from evidence the cyclists who parked in a graffiti-free alley littered, but 69% dropped wastepaper on the
that clearly conveys
other people’s respect ground after researchers added graffiti to the walls. If you want your employees’ snack area
for norms.” to be tidy, send your cleanup crew in while people are eating. Seeing how others work to
getabstract
restore their environment will make your staff members more aware.

Finding Common Ground

Mergers and acquisitions can lead to challenging changes, particularly if the new partners
once were fierce rivals. Managers can make their employees’ adjustment easier by finding
“uncommon commonalities” among team members. For instance, asking new and old
employees to list their 10 favorite TV shows will reveal possible obscure preferences
getabstract they share.
“So fundamental is the
draw of what others
are doing that even People are more motivated to learn about one another in the early stages of a relationship.
organisms without a Over time, they exchange less information and become more likely to overlook individual
brain cortex are subject
to its force.” changes. That’s the reason to take a colleague along when you meet with longstanding
getabstract clients. Your friend may have a fresh perspective and could even ask questions that create
new opportunities.

Don’t Forget Your Appointment

The annual cost of UK citizens being “no shows” for doctors’ appointments is roughly £800
million, or about $1 billion. Patients who received reminder phone calls were more likely to
honor their commitments if the caller asked them to read back the details of the appointment
before hanging up. The compliance rate was even greater when front-desk staff handed
getabstract departing patients a card on which to write down details of their next appointment. Apply
“For a commitment to
stand the best chance this concept when you have to check whether a meeting’s attendees agree on the meeting’s
of being lived up to, it future plans. When you email your meeting summary to participants, ask them each to show
needs to be owned by
the person making that
with a “simple yes response” whether your notes accurately reflect their understanding of
commitment.” the group’s intended actions.
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Powerful Commitment
A California hotel asks all guests to be environmentally conscious and it additionally asks
some guests to take specific actions, such as reusing towels. The second group had a higher
compliance rate. Researchers concluded that people are more likely to act on a commitment
when they “own” personal responsibility. People become likely to adopt certain related
behaviors voluntarily. In the case of the hotel guests, this meant spontaneously turning off
lights and the TV.
getabstract
“When it comes
to encouraging Altering behavior often requires more than just making it easy for people to change. Placing
cooperation and a recycling bin in a men’s restroom caused the men to use an average of half a paper towel
partnership, focusing
on shared identities more than when no recycling bin was available. As in the California hotel experiment,
becomes important.” someone must ask people to be specifically and personally responsible.
getabstract

The Power of Testimonials

Firms typically use financial incentives to motivate employees, but research shows you
can encourage employees effectively by pointing out the importance of their jobs. Solicit

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 testimonials from your customers demonstrating how an employee, service or product
benefited them. Post these stories on a bulletin board or email them to your workforce.

getabstract
“A manager might
Losing Proposition
garner greater Entertainment industry tycoon Barry Diller, who was once a programming manager at
commitment to ABC, spent a record amount for the TV rights to The Poseidon Adventure, even though
solid actions from a
team meeting if the he knew he would lose money. He felt stuck because he’d staked his reputation on making
individual members the deal. People are reluctant to back out of a negotiation once they’ve made a significant
vocalized them at the
end of the meeting.” commitment. To avoid this problem, designate one person to initiate a project and another
getabstract to oversee its execution.

“Yes” Doesn’t Mean Yes

Saying yes doesn’t necessarily mean that someone will honor a commitment. But you can
greatly improve the odds by specifically asking people to specify when they intend to follow
through. For example, one company offered free, on-site flu vaccinations to its employees.
The compliance rate improved when company representatives asked employees to indicate
getabstract on a card the date and time they planned to come in for a vaccination.
“Managers and
organizations
stand to benefit by Short-Term Gain
actively seeking out To ensure that your customers take advantage of a coupon or savings opportunity instead
opportunities to provide
explicit thanks.” of allowing it to lapse, give them three weeks instead of three months to redeem the offer.
getabstract Procrastination is a common human condition. Consumers say they prefer to have more
time to use an offer, but studies show that shorter expiration dates are more effective in
spurring action.

Meetings with Purpose

Psychologists Garold Stasser and William Titus found that meeting participants spend a
lot of time discussing old news. Often, people with new information never get a chance to
share it. To ensure more productive meetings, follow these suggestions:
getabstract
“Those negotiating in
their home territory • Ask participants to submit information ahead of time – This increases your chances of
outperformed the
visitors regardless
getting more material and ensures that soft-spoken participants get to contribute.
of whether they were • Have the person running the meeting speak last – If the leader goes first, others may
purchasers or sellers in simply fall into line and you’ll miss the opportunity to solicit alternative suggestions.
the negotiation.”
getabstract • Use a checklist – This may seem obvious, but without a good agenda, you can easily
ignore important items.
• Pay attention to seating arrangements – Recent research indicates that circular seating
is more favorable to group collaboration and cooperation. Conversely, a square or L-
shaped arrangement works best if you want to foster individual uniqueness.

Dress for Success, Raise the Ceiling and Meet on Your Own Turf
Persuasion is more effective when you back it up with a sense of authority. People see
getabstract doctors who wear a stethoscope – even if they never use it – as more credible and
“You’re far better off
making the first offer
knowledgeable. With that in mind, avoid casual dress when meeting a prospective client.
in a negotiation than Even if your office dress code is informal, you’ll rarely go wrong wearing a business suit
letting your counterpart to introduce yourself to a prospect.
strike first.”
getabstract
Is the ceiling height in a meeting room really important? Yes, according to researchers Joan
Meyers-Levy and Juliet Zhu. Through a series of experiments involving word puzzles, the
researchers concluded that rooms with higher ceilings encourage more creative thinking.
Rooms with lower ceilings worked best for hammering out specific plans and actions.

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 Behavioral scientists Graham Brown and Markus Baer found that business negotiators
meeting in their own office settings outperform their visiting counterparts. Always try to
hold business meetings “at home” or, at the very least, in a neutral location.

Generous to a Fault
getabstract Generosity brings multiple benefits. It makes you feel good and typically it sets the stage
“The key to optimizing for those on the receiving end to reciprocate. Organizational psychologist Frank Flynn
the giving process in
the workplace is to found that while people admire generosity, they rated helpful, generous employees as less
arrange for exchange.” productive because they devoted so much time to assisting others. The solution to this
getabstract
conundrum is to indicate that you expect those who receive help to return the favor in the
future. Say something like, “Of course, I know that if the situation were ever reversed,
you’d do the same for me.”

Communicating gratitude further motivates the person who did the favor. For example, the
director of a fund-raising event personally thanked those who made fund-raising calls for
their work. The following week, they increased their phone call rates by 50%.

getabstract The Reverend Richard Steel of St. John’s Church in northern England demonstrated a keen
“The principle of
reciprocity evokes understanding of the power of reciprocity. Needing more than the $750,000 he had already
a powerful sense raised to repair the old church, Steel asked his parishioners one Sunday in 2012 to each
of obligation that
recipients feel to repay, take $15 from the collection plate and invest it any way they desired. He said he hoped they
in kind, what has would return any dividends they earned to the church. Some members of the congregation
been provided to them
first – a sense often used the money creatively, organizing bake sales or running a dog-walking service. The
accompanied by a return on Steel’s original $825 investment eventually totaled $15,000.
healthy return.”
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Making the First Move
Negotiations often resemble a boxing match. The participants dance around the ring, trying
to figure out whether to throw the first punch or stay on the defensive. According to social
psychologists Adam Galinsky and Thomas Mussweiler, you should act first. Regardless of
whether you are buying or selling, making the first move is more likely to yield favorable
results. Why? Because the initial offer “anchors” the discussion and your opponent’s stance.
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Negotiations proceed from the first-stated position.
“Previous research
has shown that two Numbers Game
factors can have an
important influence on In 2011, new JCPenney CEO Ron Johnson decided to drop the traditional “99-cent” price
people when pursuing tags. For instance, a pair of denim shorts that the store previously priced at $19.99 was sold,
a goal: challenge and
attainability.” instead, for $20. Johnson believed round-number pricing would convey a clear, “simple
getabstract and honest message” to consumers. JCPenney’s sales plummeted nearly 30% the following
year. Other factors, such as a subpar economy, contributed to the decline, but Johnson
eventually lost his job. Adding a penny moves the main price up a notch. The $19.99 shorts
no longer fell into the “less than $20” category. Johnson made a small change, but he failed
to persuade.
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About the Author
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Arizona State University professor emeritus Robert B. Cialdini is president of UK-based Influence at Work, where
Steve J. Martin is the director. Noah J. Goldstein is a professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. They
also co-wrote Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive and Cialdini also wrote Influence: The Psychology
of Persuasion.

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