Category: Opinion

Three Types of Liking:
People Liking People (Part 1)

You like cake? I like ice cream, although I’m flexible.

They’re both desserts. They fall under the same utility in classic Economic Theory, meaning they serve the same purpose: dessert!

Cake or Ice Cream? Photo “Sweet Treats” by Tradlands, Flickr, CC-By-2.0

Yet we all know that people have different tastes and preferences. Even economists understand that we like different things, which can make economic models complex!

In his book Influence, Robert Cialdini identified liking as one of his six (now seven) principles of persuasion.

If we want to persuade and influence people, it’s important that we’re liked and that we like others. It’s essential.

No one wants to help the jerk.

But in the age of Social Media, what does it mean to “like?”

(more…)
Our future is Technical. Your future is Human.

You can shop for clothes on the British version of Amazon, the clothes are made in Bangladesh, and they’re shipped to your vacation hotel in Peru.

Sounds like a nice vacation!

It’s no secret that our economy is now global. International markets cross borders to supply the demands of humanity.

In the 1800s, the Industrial Revolution changed the workforce in the United States and around the world. Machines that could do the work of 10 people were invented, and then 100 people.

Hardware, slow and lumbering, ate the jobs of the 1800s.

In response to these labor-saving devices, US Americans increasingly became knowledge workers or geographic movers. We push pencils, we pull freight, we move people.

These jobs of the 1900s are quickly disappearing.

Within the coming decade, by 2025, a majority of the 3.5 million trucking jobs may well be automated. 180,000 taxi jobs are at risk. Even more Uber drivers. Retail jobs. Sales clerks. Fast-food restaurant employees. Warehouse pickers.

Many of the traditional jobs of the 1900s are being replaced by robots.

Robots don’t get tired, robots don’t negotiate as a union.

But back then, robots didn’t think.

Now, in the year 2017, we have software. Artificial Intelligence, AI. Software, cheap and infinity reproducible, is eating the jobs of the 2000s. Software that builds computer networks. Software that programs machines of all types. Software that writes software. Coders are eating their own.

The next economic shift is terrifying because we don’t know what the jobs of tomorrow will look like.

What we do know, however, is that there will always be people (until the world melts or freezes or something).

People want direction, people crave excitement, people follow charisma.

Motivating people will always be in demand.

The best way you can prepare for tomorrow is by learning how to work with people, how to influence their attitudes and direct their behaviour. These are known as ‘soft skills’ — and Persuasion Reading List is working to uncover these skills with you.

What do you see in the future?

Will your job be eaten by software automation?

Are you preparing yourself with soft skills?

Leave a comment below!
Tuesday I start Dale Carnegie Course

I’m really excited. Over the next three Tuesdays I’ll attend the Dale Carnegie Course. I hope to learn about social flows and interpersonal skills, and improve my own. And, I expect, I’ll learn about Influence, as Carnegie wrote the book on it in 1936.

(more…)
The Ten Dollar Guarantee I Won’t Return To This Restaurant

Within 5 minutes of sitting at our table, our first waiter spilled a full glass of white wine onto the lap of the man next to me. The waiter apologized to Stan, bringing towels.

But never a new glass of wine for Stan’s partner.

“Overflow.” by Ben Seidelman, Flickr, CC-By-2.0

And it gets worse. But let me back up for a moment. (more…)
Trump for Liberals Like Me

I see a lot of my friends and family scared with Trump in the Oval Office. Within a year, he went from a clown that many dismissed to the President of the United States. Among my friends, I see suffering and confusion. I hear their stories of protest and anger, fear and sadness.

Photo “women’s-march-nyc-5” by Sarah WY, Flickr CC-By-2.0

I have a different view now that we’ve been learning about Persuasion. And I want to help.

(more…)
And Now, A Message from the Universe

I’ve written other posts about the messages I’ve received from the Universe. Yeah I know it sounds crazy. Maybe they’re coincidences. Maybe it’s cognitive bias, lending make-believe support to my theory.

But if the Universe’s Messages are helpful, why would I ignore them?

With Persuasion techniques, you can be ahead of the game. Photo “Black & White” by Dean Strelau, Flickr, CC-By-2.0

Here’s a message that I am listening to. I think you are, too. (more…)