Some defined “Management” as “to make changes happen effectively.” From there, many books and consultation practices flourished. One of them is VitalSmarts. They wrote several books and formed a consultancy to teach people exactly that: to influence changes on self, individuals, groups, the companies, or even the whole societies. For curiosity, mostly on the audacity of the claims, I checked out Influencer from the library.
The books, I think, can be summarized with this table. That people will change if two conditions are met: they have the motivation to change and the ability to do it. The book then broke these two factors into 3 levels: personal, social, and structural. It proceeded to give pointers on how to influence at each of the three levels for both motivation and ability.
Let’s see. I want to lose weight and I am capable of doing it. I have easy assess to a gym. Everyone in the whole world support me and believe in me. I have pretty much all the incentives. But I am not losing weight.
That’s pitfall #1: I was focusing on the result and not the behavior. I shall exercise more and eat sensibly. Again, let me check all 6 boxes: motivation & ability at all 3 levels: personal, social, and structural. Hmm… This is getting hard. Maybe I should sign up for a VitalSmarts seminar? Wait, what’s the point of reading this book if I cannot really influence a change on myself?
If changing the world is easy, as in we can learn it by reading a book, would there be more world changers by now? If an institute can teach people how to change the world, how come they are not doing it? This felt like a get-it-rich-quick book. The only person who’s getting rich is the seller of the book.
Good thing I got the book from the library.
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