You should try to make your company, your division, your department feel to them like a furniture shop felt to the workers, before the industrial revolution.

“Perhaps eight men work there. One of them is the boss. He owns the shop, but he works there, visibly. The other seven receive wages. The work done by the boss is not all done with tools; sometimes he uses a pencil. He draws designs, writes occasional letters, puts down figures about wages, costs, and prices,” wrote Alexander Heron in a little-known 1942 masterpiece, Sharing Information with Employees, the first book ever written on employee communication.

Read Heron’s description of the shop, and reorganize your employee communication program to create a meaningful workplace where workers know what’s happening, and why.

This kind of workplace:

The shop or factory is on the same lot as the house where the boss lives; he owns it. The other seven know how much his taxes are each year. … They were all in on the discussion before the new lathe was bought, and they remember the price and the freight. They remember how the boss borrowed some of the money from his wife’s sister.

They know that the dining room “suit” on which they are working now is for Jane Winton, [who] used to be Jane Carey, the schoolteacher, before she married Bill Winton, the banker. They know it has to be as good as the furniture she saw in Buffalo, and that if it is good Bill’s mother is going to give the boss an order for another lot which will keep them all busy through the winter.

They see the finished job emerging under their skilled hands, day by day. They know how difficult it was to get the seasoned walnut, and what it finally cost, what price is to be paid for the finished job, how much the boss will “make” on it, and how much of that will go to pay off the loan from the sister-in-law.

They know that the boss has gradually built a reputation for honest quality and skilled workmanship and that they are part of that reputation. They know why once in a while they have had to wait a little for their wages—when the taxes had to be paid before the money came in for the new counter and fixtures at the drugstore.

Above all, they know the boss. Their attachment to him is basically not sentimental but practical. He is the salesman who gets the orders which bring work to them. He collects the money which pays their wages. He manages to accumulate the working space and the equipment. They are realistic enough to know that they can get their full and fair share of the income of the business. …

They know. Because they know, they understand. And in that full and simple understanding they “put themselves” into every job.

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1. First, Take Good Care of Each Other

Most people, it seems, talk more than listen. They want to be heard, want to make their point. But don’t we all respond better to someone who listens to us? Really listens, so that we feel that we are actually understood? The difference is profound.

It is important advice to remember in discussions where there are different points of view, such as with people from different departments in a company. In fact, this is where our client usually found the reminder most helpful. A company’s president, CFO, head of HR, and head of marketing typically have a very different points of view about issues that affect the company.

The advice is important in negotiation. Rather than just pressing for what you want, if you first understand what is most important to the party you are negotiating with, you may well be able to come to an agreement that gives you both more of what you want.

The advice is important in personal relationships. Many arguments stem from a simple misunderstanding. Mismatched expectations or underlying assumptions are often the problem. Rather than reacting to what was said, if we seek first to understand what the other person expects and assumes, the conversation may not turn into an argument at all.

Being a marketing guy, I’ve found that this great advice is rarely considered in marketing or in sales. Most companies’ marketing reflects the company’s point of view rather than the customers’. But we know that isn’t effective. Prospective customers want to know what the product or service will do for them, not just what it will do. They want to know how what the company offers meets their needs, relieves their pain, or fulfills their desires. They want to know why they should deal with that company, not just why the company thinks its offerings are worth buying.

Here is a sales example: Let’s say you are shopping for tires. The salesman tells you all about the latest performance tires that look cool and really hug the curves. But if you are interested in tires that will last the longest, guess what? He has lost you.

If he pushes the latest “in” thing like tires have the lowest profile, and you are interested in tires that give a comfortable ride or have the best safety rating, he has lost you.

But, if he seeks first to understand what is important to you rather than just telling you what he think is sales-worthy, he can connect with you. And probably sell you some tires.

By seeking first to understand, we can then communicate more readily with the people in our lives, and, in business, with clients and customers.

Understand?

Photo by maldiviandude.

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The good news is we can support each other to change in positive, far-reaching ways. For example, Dr. Mimi Silbert at Delancey Street has transformed more than five thousand former drug addicts, pimps and thieves into productive citizens. Individuals who were once warehoused in prisons now have jobs that contribute to society.

In our book, Influencer, my co-authors and I chronicle the work of Silbert and other powerful influencers. We discovered eight principals these change agents use to resolve some of the world’s toughest challenges. Here are three:

1. Change the Way You Change Minds

Change starts with a change of mind. Before people will abandon long-standing behaviors and adopt new, healthier behaviors, they must believe two things. First, they must think, “I can do it!” and second, they must believe that, “If I do, it’ll be worth it.”

To help yourself or others believe they can change and that it will be worth it, create personal experiences. Instead, of trying to persuade or convince them, help people experience the new behavior and the resulting consequences for themselves.

To do this, take others on field trips where they can watch the target behaviors in action. For instance, when a production plant full of automobile employees didn’t believe their Japanese competitors actually produced more per employee; executives flew a team to Japan where they watched their competitors in action. Now they believed.

2. Find Vital Behaviors

How do you lose weight? You could follow a strict diet. Or perhaps you could take weight loss pills. It turns out neither approach is successful. However, if you study people who have successfully lost the weight and kept it off, you’ll discover a few vital behaviors that lead to the difference. These successful people ate breakfast every morning, exercised at home, and weighed themselves more than once a week.

Masters of influence understand that key results stem from changing a handful of vital behaviors. Instead of selecting the trendiest technique or solution, they go to great pains to locate the few behaviors that matter by studying those who have succeeded in the face of failure.

3. Make the Undesirable Desirable

Humans seek pleasure and avoid pain. So, when the requisite task is noxious, painful, or boring, find a way to make it more desirable. You can either change the task itself, or help people view it in a new way. Individuals who take pleasure in their work tie it to core values and human consequences. For example, help people see how a job, although not particularly interesting, is intimately tied to customer satisfaction.

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