And Lastly, It's Fun
We're pretty dumb. We, as people, that is. We take things personally, we are selfish, we become stubborn and uncommunicative when openness and flexibility are most needed.
When you put these tendencies into a laboratory situation, as we do in Persuasion Under Pressure, where we artificially re-create some unpalatable and challenging interpersonal situations and generate some truly dreadful interpersonal outcomes - it's actually pretty funny. You'll get to the point pretty quickly where you start to laugh at how badly we tend to react so much in our lives, and how we have done for most of our lives. And this is good, because it means you're starting to become immune. And you're ready to substitute a newer, more productive way of seeing the world playing out before you. Ready to deploy a whole new raft of options in order to fix problems, influence outcomes. Being charming and playful and engaging and creative where in the past you would have been defensive and unproductive...is fun. Knowing that you didn't put your foot in your mouth, or shoot yourself in the foot, or shoot off your mouth, in situations where you might have...is funner still. Being in the position to calmly realize what you want, while making the other person happier and bringing them closer, is the most fun of all. |