Persuasion as a Catalyst for Change

I’m not going to lie; Daniel Pink is one of my heroes.  After reading his book Drive a few years back my professional practice was significantly changed for the better.  His work really made me critically reflect upon my leadership practices.  This led to a decision to give my staff and students more autonomy, which resulted in a greater sense of ownership of their learning.  The power of social media then connected the both of us leading to him Skyping with the students at New Milford High School, a personal dialogue over the years, and his endorsement of my new book on Digital Leadership.  Pink was the morning keynote on the opening day of the Annual ASCD Conference in Los Angeles, CA.  His presentation focused on the research presented in his new book To Sell is Human.  This post will be my best attempt to summarize his keynote.

Image credit: http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2014/03/10-keys-for-brand-persuasion-and-change.html#.UyXBv61dXJ4

Persuasion is a huge component of what we do in education. Roughly 40% of our time is spent moving other people from point A to point B or in another direction. The change process and its success for that matter lie in our ability to persuade people to embrace new ideas, concepts, and strategies. We are currently trying to accomplish this in a radically different landscape in a world dominated by technology.  All ideas and information can be fact checked immediately as society continues to become more connected by the day. There is no longer a monopoly on information.  Everyone has it, which makes the art of persuasion and moving people in a better direction much more difficult as there is no longer an information advantage. Instead of information imbalance there is information parity.

So with these challenges what do we do about it in the field of education? One way is to look at current research, especially the work of Robert Cialdini.  His research into influence and behavioral science allows us to piece together more effective ways to persuade, or embrace change, as I would prefer.  Social science suggest three core qualities to move people towards change:

• Attunement – Can you get out of your own head and see a different point of view? We must learn to accept and embrace different perspectives.
• Buoyancy – If we are facing an ocean of rejection how do we stay afloat?
• Clarity – How do we make sense of information? We must move from just accessing information to curating information. 

Instead of having  “big, hairy goals” Pink suggests that we should focus on small wins. As we continue to find success through these small wins they will eventually culminate into moving people where we want, and need, them to be. For this to happen we must relinquish a certain amount of power and control.  It is important for us to not let power overtake our core values, as it will negatively impact our willingness to be open to the perspectives of others.  We can become more effective by reducing our feelings of the need for power.  This was extremely refreshing for me to hear as we have moved away from directives and mandates at NMHS, both heavily aligned to power hungry leadership.  This, in combination with giving up control and trusting both students and teachers, has allowed us to initiate sustainable change at my school leading to transformation.

So who is better at selling stuff, introverts, extroverts, or ambiverts? Well the answer was ambivert, but what the heck is this? According to Pink ambiverts are in the middle of both extroverts and introverts.  None of us really possess all of the qualities and characteristics that define either an introvert or extrovert.  What this really means is that we have to become a better version of ourselves in order to improve our ability to persuade.  Or better yet, to move people to where they need to be. 

You can do this! Well actually this might not be the best course of action. Buoyancy in this frenetic world rests on interrogative self-talk.  A change in mindset that has us ask the question can I do this actually leads to better outcomes related to change. Interrogative self-talk is actually more instructional and can spark the autonomous intrinsic motivation to pursue and accomplish a goal. Pink provided a great analogy in Bob the Builder, who asks the question can we fix this? Taking this perspective can really assist educators move people towards a better way.

Persuasion and motivation are not done to someone; it is actually something they want to do.  Context drives behavior more than we realize. Sometimes changing people’s minds is what we focus on when instead we need to give them an off ramp to act.  When we try to lead there is a tendency to focus on the how.  This is important, but it shortchanges the why.  The cheapest persuasive tool we have is explaining the why. Pink recommends having tow conversations on why to every on how.  As others understand the why the road the change becomes clear.

Standardization Will Destroy Our Education System, If It Hasn't Already

Cross-posted at the Huffington Post.


This summer I have made a commitment to reading more and have chosen books that I think will help me become a better leader.  A few weeks ago I finished Drive by Daniel Pink and am now halfway through with Linchpin bySeth Godin.  I highly recommend both of these book at any educators who is interested about the science behind motivation or overcoming resistance to become and indispensable component of an educational organization. 

Through my reading of both books it has become painfully clear that many of our current politicians and so-called educational reformers have it completely wrong when it comes to standardization.  Now I have always thought this was the case, but these two books have not only reaffirmed my views, but also given me a great deal of concern as we inch closer to an educational system that focuses on test scores as the number one determinant of achievement. 

Image credit: http://www.noodle.org/noodlings/k-12/decoding-standardized-test-scores

Dan Pink reveals that the keys unlocking and sustaining intrinsic motivation are autonomy, mastery, and purpose.  As a leader this is the type of teaching and learning culture that I want to foster and cultivate, one where creativity flourishes, students find relevancy and meaning in their learning, and teachers are given the support to be innovative.  A teaching and learning culture powered by intrinsic motivation will achieve this.

Unfortunately we are being forced in the opposite directions.  The current education movement is laden with "if-then" rewards and a carrots & sticks approach to motivation. If students score well on standardized tests they move on to the next grade level or graduate while their teachers receive favorable marks on evaluations.  These are forms of extrinsic motivation and will work in short term, but performance will not be sustainable as those motivated intrinsically.  The same can be said for merit pay.  Pink has provided a compelling case as to why this will never work and this is supported by the research. 

Students are not motivated by standardized tests, as they find no true meaning and value in them.  Teachers are motivated for all the wrong reasons, of which includes job security or a financial incentive.  A focus on standardization narrows the curriculum and creates a teaching culture where creativity, exploration, critical thinking are scarce or non-existent.  It creates a culture that students do not want to be a part of and one that can only be sustained with the use of "if-then" rewards or carrots and sticks.  Is this the direction we want to go in?  Do we want schools to squash creativity and reinforce a model that worked will in the 20^th Century that will not prepare our students for their future?

Seth Godin describes linchpins as indispensable components of an organization that are artists in there own right.  These individuals don’t follow a manual, but instead are guided by an urge to do what is right.  In my opinion we want to create schools that allow teachers to become linchpins because in the end students benefit from their creativity, passion, and innovative mindset. However, standardization follows in the footsteps of a century-old education model focused on industrialization, which influences teachers and administrators in a way where the artist in each of them never evolves.  This entrenched system produces students that lack creativity, are fearful of failure, work extremely hard to follow directions (homework, study for tests, not question authority), and are leaving schools with undesirable skills in a post-industrial society. Schools focus more on filling the minds of students with useless facts and knowledge as opposed to learning essential skills that can't be measured with a #2 pencil.

Godin continues to provide example after example of how education has it all wrong.  Take the resume for example.  Virtually every school has students craft one to go along with their college application materials.  Students don't need resumes, they need to create artifacts of learning that provides detail as to what they can really do or know.  Godin provides a compelling alternative to a traditional resume and hiring process.  I have tweaked the business example he provided into an educational one. Instead of standardization, have students make a presentation of their resume and skills learned while in school.  Have them defend, answer questions, and lead a discussion with a variety of stakeholders.  Does this seem more meaningful and relevant? When analyzing the science of motivation presented to Drive I would certainly say so. 

My only hope, and this is wishful thinking, is that research and common sense will ultimately prevail to save our education system from future demise if those with influence and power keep steering us in a failed direction.  Let us learn from the past and create an educational system that instills a sense of intrinsic motivation and creates learners that are indispensable.