Rule 3 Consider The Motive

 

Consider the motive.

Some people are more persuasive than others. Whether they are trying to sell you a car, persuade you to adopt their plan at work convince you to come to their party, or point out why plastic bags doe bad for the environment. You need to avoid being sucked into following their line of thought blindly without engaging your own

brain.

Now, that car might not be what you need at all. On the other hand, plastic bags really are bad for the environment. So if someone wants you to adopt their belief or follow their advice, you can't deduce from that alone whether it's a good idea. You have to know why they're seeking to persuade you.


It’s always a good idea to understand what this person wants you to believe and why. Sometimes they want you to do something as a result of their persuasive efforts - buy something, join something, agree to something, attend an event, sign a petition. Not always though. Sometimes they're simply passing on an opinion and would like your agreement - maybe they want to persuade you it's a good thing the council is building a new car park. It's a nice bonding feeling when someone agrees with you, but beyond that, they may not be after much at all.


Once you've established clearly in your mind what they want, it's much easier to decide whether you want it to. Your friend is telling you how great the party will be because they want you to go. They're only guessing it will be great. Do you agree? Do you want to be there? If so, do you want to be there because it will be great or because you want to support your friend? It’s much easier to inure yourself to your friend's persuasive methods once you can see them for what they are.


Of course, that might be the perfect car for you, whatever the salesperson's motive for telling you so. You can't dismiss it Ou of hand just because they have a vested interest in you buying it (if that ruled it out, no one would ever buy a car from any dealer).

Identifying the motive isn't a reason to reject someone else's thinking. The point of doing it is to give yourself a sensible dose of wariness, of where you should double-check their assertions and make sure their arguments are the ones that matter.


A car salesperson might get you really excited with their infectious enthusiasm about how fast this car is or how comfortable it is in the back seats but don't get swept along mindlessly. Are those things actually important to you? Your colleague might persuade you that this exhibition is just the way to reach all those small engineering businesses out there. But how big a proportion of your customers are they ever going to be? So why does your colleague care so much about reaching them? Only by recognizing the motive can you know how much importance to attach to the facts you're being fed.



IDENTIFYING THE MOTIVE

ISN'T A REASON TO REJECT SOMEONE ELSE'S THINKING

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