Dr. Jeni Cross (2013) shared about our greatest adversary being common sense in her Ted Talk. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to her speak and gained a lot of insight into my experiences with the myths of behavior change. I believe I have fallen into believing all of these at one time or another, but the myth that I fell into believing most is Myth #1 that education will change behavior. I have been one in the past to believe that if we could just educate others that things would change.
Education alone however didn’t help in the studies, but “making information tangible” and relatable did (Tedx Talks, 2013a). This connects with speaking to the heart of your stakeholders and making things meaningful. I understand now that while relying on common sense is smart but doing so too heavily is not. The key is knowing when to look at the science behind things and be sure that we are paying attention to it so we don’t get caught up in the myths that will sabotage our plan. Keeping this in mind while planning will hopefully help me to avoid some of the traps that are seen in failed plans.
In my innovation plan, I wish to achieve the results that both the stakeholders and the educators are moved to action. I don’t want them to just go along with my plan, but I want to light a fire in their hearts so they take it up as their own. I want them to believe what I believe and walk beside me on this journey to change. I have the challenge of educators being frustrated that this will just be more work for them, so I will have to find a way to influence them to change behavior willingly.
To achieve these results, I plan to pay close attention to the needs of my audience and how I can influence them. Using the 6 sources of influence, I will go through each one evaluating and using the 4 key strategies to be sure to create a plan that will work. Planning for setbacks and thoroughly going through all aspects of implementation with my audience’s needs in mind will help to ensure success.
Joseph Grenny (2013) gave great advice on steps to influence others. First was defining the problem. He said we then look for impulses (what you desire), teach skills, provide social support (be around those that have the skills you wish to acquire), think of incentives, and look at the environment (Tedx Talks, 2013b). Keeping my mind on the people within the project, instead of the project itself, will be a way that I influence change in my plan.
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