Scott Adams did more than create a popular cartoon that spoke to a generation of office workers. source: Art of Charm, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
It’s a popular Hollywood trope: a “dead” man lives to see his own funeral. He’s fascinated by the reactions of those around him. Sometimes, he’s pleasantly surprised. Sometimes sorrowfully depressed. Sometimes downright angry. Depending on the movie, it’s either a fake death or a supernatural out-of-body experience.
As with most things, it all depends on what you’re watching.
And that, in a nutshell, summarizes the wisdom of Scott Adams.
The popular cartoonist—an ex-engineer with an MBA—turned his front-line experience into a practical philosophy, one useful both in business and in life. A trained hypnotist, he became a serious student of persuasion. He then blossomed into a master scholar. Of course, it was only a matter of time that his expansive talent stack would get him into trouble.
In 2015, long before the usual chattering class, Adams used his persuasion lens to quickly Continue Reading “Scott Adams’ (Very) Public Wake”
The Art and Science of Influence and Leadership (Part I: The Science)
Office of War Information, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Influence, the last of the three leader traits to be researched, stands out as the most practical measure of successful leadership. Be warned, though. Just as obedience to authority contains a dark side, so, too, do the methods of influence.
Scott Adams, creator of the comic strip Dilbert and renowned persuasion expert, calls behavioral psychologist Robert Cialdini the “Godzilla” of persuasion. Cialdini’s research, compiled in various books, lays out in simple language six different ways to influence people.
In his website, Cialdini states, “It is through the influence process that we lead, generate, and manage change. Like most things, the process can be handled poorly or well. It can be employed to foster growth and to move people away from negative choices and in more positive directions, thereby creating the conditions for Continue Reading “The Art and Science of Influence and Leadership (Part I: The Science)”