3 stubborn management beliefs that sabotage lasting transformation

"There's real science behind this. Things we experience are packed away in our brain as the connections called synapses, which form and evolve over time. These connections strengthen as we use them and degrade when we do not. Or, as neuroscientists who study these things like to put it, the neurons that fire together, wire together. That's why leaders pursuing change often default to a manager's mindset instead of a changemaker's mindset, because that's what they know and what they've been successful with."

"For 35 years, psychologist Robert Cialdini researched which types of communication were effective and which were not. He found that influence is based on six key principles: reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, authority, liking, and scarcity. More recently, Wharton's Jonah Berger has used data analysis to come up with his SPEACC framework. Others emphasize using emotional rather than analytical arguments."

"Salespeople trained in these techniques find them effective. They qualify the customer by asking good questions, do a needs analysis and then tailor their pitch to a unique value proposition. When they encounter resistance they use proven techniques to overcome objections and close the sale. Most leaders have some familiarity with these techniques so they naturally apply them to transformational initiatives. The problem is that changing mindsets and behaviors isn't a one-time"

Experiences create and strengthen synaptic connections, making learned beliefs difficult to unlearn because neurons that fire together wire together. Leaders pursuing change often default to familiar manager mindsets because past success reinforces those neural pathways. Influence research identifies principles and frameworks—reciprocity, commitment, social proof, authority, liking, scarcity, and SPEACC—that work well in sales through tailored pitches and objection handling. Those persuasion techniques close deals but translate poorly to transformation efforts that demand persistent shifts in behavior and mindset. Changing mindsets and behaviors isn't a one-time process and requires ongoing, experiential reinforcement to form new neural patterns.

Read at Fast Company