The Catalyst | Jonah Berger

 Jonah Berger, the author of New York Times bestsellers Contagious and Invisible Influence brings a revolutionary approach to changing anyone's mind in his book “The Catalyst: How to Change Anyone's Mind”.

Everyone has something they want to change. But change is hard. Often, we persuade and pressure and push, but nothing moves. He tries to find the answer to that question “Could there be a better way?” in his book.

This book takes a different approach. Successful change agents know it's not about pushing harder, or providing more information, it's about being a catalyst. Catalysts remove roadblocks and reduce the barriers to change. Instead of asking, "How could I change someone's mind?" they ask a different question: "Why haven't they changed already? What's stopping them?"

Let’s have a look at what I have highlighted while reading this book:

Instead, it’s about being a catalyst—changing minds by removing roadblocks and lowering the barriers that keep people from taking action.

Because rather than asking what might convince someone to change, catalysts start with a more basic question: Why hasn’t that person changed already? What is blocking them?

That’s what this book is all about: how to overcome inertia, incite action, and change minds—not by being more persuasive, or pushing harder, but by being a catalyst. By removing the barriers to change.

Alcohol prevention messages can lead college students to drink more. And trying to persuade people that smoking is bad for their health can actually make them more interested in smoking in the future. In these and similar examples, warnings became recommendations.

People have a need for freedom and autonomy. To feel that their lives and actions are within their personal control.

When people’s ability to make their own choices is taken away or even threatened, they react against the potential loss of control. And one way to reassert that sense of control—to feel autonomous—is to engage in the forbidden behavior: to text while driving, let the dog loose on the grass, or even chomp down on some Tide Pods. Doing the forbidden thing becomes an easy way to reassert their sense of being in the driver’s seat.

Pushing, telling, or just encouraging people to do something often makes them less likely to do it.

To avoid reactance and the persuasion radar, catalysts allow for agency. They stop trying to persuade and instead get people to persuade themselves.

Another way to allow for agency is to ask questions rather than make statements.

Questions do a couple things: 

First, like providing a menu, questions shift the listener’s role. Rather than counterarguing or thinking about all the reasons they disagree with a statement, listeners are occupied with a different task: figuring out an answer to the question.

Second, and more importantly, questions increase buy-in. Because while people may not want to follow someone else’s lead, they’re much more likely to follow their own. The answer to the question isn’t just any answer; it’s their answer. And because it’s their own personal answer, reflecting their own personal thoughts, beliefs, and preferences, that answer is much more likely to drive them to action.

Questions encourage listeners to commit to the conclusion. To behave consistently with whatever answer they gave.

Ask, don’t tell.

Giving people a menu, or asking rather than telling, avoids usurping their sense of control. But another route to self-persuasion is to highlight a gap—a disconnect between someone’s thoughts and actions or a disparity between what they might recommend for others versus do themselves.

Consequently, when attitudes and behaviors conflict, people get uncomfortable. And to reduce this discomfort, or what scientists call cognitive dissonance, people take steps to bring things back in line.

Rather than trying to persuade, start by understanding.

When people feel understood and cared about, trust develops.

No one likes feeling someone is trying to influence them. After all, when’s the last time you changed your mind because someone told you to?

Change is hard, because people tend to overvalue what they have: what they already own or are already doing.

In fact, the longer people do or own something, the more they value it. The longer homeowners have lived in a home, for example, the higher they value it over the market price. The more they become attached to it, the harder it becomes to give it up.

Terrible things get replaced, but mediocre things stick around. Horrible performance generates action, but average performance generates complacency.

Whenever the status quo is okay but not stellar, or mediocre but not terrible, change doesn’t seem worth the effort. Because the current state of things doesn’t seem that bad.

Not surprisingly, this cost-benefit timing gap stymies action. People are impatient. They want the good stuff faster and the bad stuff later. So if changing means costs now and benefits later, they do nothing.

Rather than thinking about whether a given new thing is better than the old one, by helping to take inaction off the table, burning the ships encourages people to set aside the old and instead think about which new thing is worth pursuing.

Rather than going after anyone, catalysts start by finding the people who see their offering as a painkiller. Locating potential users who need the offering and can’t wait to sign up.

Trying to change minds in a meeting? Start with the people whose position is closest to begin with. Not only are they more likely to come around, but by changing their minds, they’ll hopefully become advocates and bring others along with them.

Having a tough time changing someone’s mind? Try asking for less rather than pushing for more. Dial down the size of the initial request so that it falls within the zone of acceptance. Not only will that make that initial request more successful, it also makes big change more likely overall.

Start with the areas of agreement and build from there.

Ask for less before asking for more.

Because people are risk averse. They like knowing what they are getting, and as long as what they are getting is positive, they prefer sure things to risky ones.

This devaluing of things uncertain is called the “uncertainty tax.” When choosing between a sure thing and a risky one, the risky option has to be that much better to get chosen.

Change almost always involves some degree of uncertainty.

And people dislike uncertainty. Not just a little, like bad weather or spoiled milk or a host of other things they find mildly annoying. No, people really dislike uncertainty. So much so that it has a real, tangible cost.

The easier it is to try something, the more people will use it, and the faster it catches on.

Trialability works because making things easier to try lowers uncertainty. It makes it easier for people to experience and evaluate new things.

By allowing consumers to experience things like they would in a physical store, without having to pay for the opportunity, free shipping overcame the uncertainty tax and changed how people shop forever.

Be a catalyst and lower the barrier to trial. Be an ice cream parlor, not a supermarket.

Knowing you can return something anytime helps de-risk the process and makes people more comfortable taking action.

Once people have something, they become attached to it and are loath to give it up.

Changing minds is a bit like trying to lift something on the other end of a seesaw.

How much weight, or proof, you need depends on how heavy the thing is that you’re trying to move. If you’re trying to lift a pebble, you don’t need much. Add a little evidence and it moves right away. Change happens.

But if you’re trying to move a boulder, much more effort is needed. More proof is required before people will change.

As the proverb says: If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

When it comes to changing minds, translation comes into play.

The more independent the sources are, the more corroborating evidence they provide.

Behavioral scientist Kurt Lewin once noted, “If you want to truly understand something, try to change it.” But the reverse is also true. To truly change something, you need to understand it.