Healthy Influence Blog

At the risk of beating a dead drum, I’d like to again focus on Attribution Theory and the Why? Because play.  Where’s the nexus of causality, baby?

Attribution looks at how people explain the world and then how these explanations drive future thinking, feeling, and acting.  When asked, “Why?” people use one of two attributions (explanations):  Internal (I did it) or External (The Devil made me do it).  Anyone who’s faced failure and success understand Why? Because.  “Geez, I got 58% on the test . . . why?  This lousy book and this lousy teacher and this lousy blog . . .”  Then, “Geez, I got 95% on the test . . . why?  When you’re hot, you’re hot, some people are born great.”

Persuasion and life are this simple.  Now, let’s work.

Consider this well known quote, at least in military circles, from T.E. Lawrence, better known as Peter O’Toole in “Lawrence of Arabia” by the rest of us:

“Do not try to do too much with your own hands. Better the Arabs do it tolerably than that you do it perfectly. It is their war, and you are to help them, not to win it for them.”  T.E. Lawrence, Twenty Seven Articles, Article 15

Now, the main thrust of this quote is You Are Not Always the Smartest Guy in the Room.  Sometimes your ally actually knows more than you do and if you’d take your face out of the mirror, you might see that.  And the source offering this quote does a great job illustrating the main thrust.

The persuasion point of the quote goes deeper (of course, I’m a deep guy offering deep thoughts, right?).  If you do everything, all in the pursuit and demonstration of “perfection,” and make your ally sit and watch, how does your ally play the Why? Because Game?  Right.  They make External Attributions.  The Devil, the nexus of causality in this instance, is you, not them.  They do not make Internal Attributions, do not take internal responsibility for either the process or the product, and everyone knows what happens next.  You bust your tail while your ally always waits for the Devil.

Sure, you may achieve perfection or maybe something less than perfection, but certainly better than the process and product of your ally, and in war, it’s better to be better than everyone else.  But, do you want to be solely, exclusively, and always the Force of Causality?  Wouldn’t it be polite, cooperative, and maybe even successful, if your ally believed he had skin in the game?

Okay, everyone knows that there are exceptions, exemptions, and excuses here.  All Persuasion Is Local and all that persuasion prophecy fal-de-ral. But, stay on the Main Point of my Deep Thought.  People think, feel, and act differently when they believe they make It happen rather than when they believe they don’t.

You have to know how the Other Guy thinks and play accordingly.  So, if you’ve got millions of dollars riding on a movie, do you cast a guy like this?

. . . even though he doesn’t look like this guy:

Can’t you figure out how to do two things:  1) Accomplish the goal and 2) Get your ally to make Internal Attributions?