Think Smarter: Critical Thinking to Improve Problem-Solving and Decision-Making Skills

26 Influencing and Persuading

Although you may be happy once you've formed your conclusions, you're not done yet—because you're not forming conclusions in a vacuum. Your boss may have to approve them, your reports need to understand them, and your peers are on the team helping you implement them. Not everyone will agree with your conclusion—and if that's the case, you may have to influence and persuade those who disagree.

The difference between influence and persuasion is whose conclusion is debated and to what degree things change. Influence is changing others' conclusions. It's their issue to resolve; you're communicating some of your premise items, such as your observations, to modify their premise and subsequent conclusions indirectly. Persuasion is directly causing someone to adopt or concur with your conclusion, which may at times be very different from his or her initial thinking.

Here's an example of a common headscratcher middle managers face: how can they influence senior management more? If you were one such middle manager, you'd first want to get clear on what influence means in this situation. Usually, it's to get senior managers to change something per your suggestion. You have influenced them if some of your ideas are incorporated in their ultimate conclusion.

Persuasion typically comes about when people use the word get: “How do I get them to agree with the way I want to do it?” or “How do I get them to do this task?” or “How do I get them to buy my product?” You ...