What’s the best way to get people—an audience, your staff, a teenager—to do what you want them to do? If you’re like a lot of companies, leaders, or parents, you create a set of rules and policies.
Do not give customers a free upgrade without supervisor approval. Get your reports in by the 15th of each month. Don’t stay out past midnight. But those of us who have issued sets of rules know that lack of compliance is a big problem. Many people don’t like rules, so they ignore them. They lapse back into old habits. Staff members wait until the end of the month to submit their reports. Your teenager stays out until 2 a.m. In many cases, there’s a better way to get people to do what you want them to do....
Many of us who want other people to do something issue sets of rules and policies. But those are often ineffective. There's a better way writes Brad Phillips. Think storytelling.