How to influence foreigners
How can you get foreigners to do what you want them to do?
That would certainly be a valuable skill for a government minister - and earlier this year ministers attended a presentation in Downing St which included some useful advice on the matter.
This was at a seminar on 'Behavioural Change', organised by the Cabinet Office as part of Tony Blair's recent . The presentation was from the American academic , a noted authority on the psychology of persuasion.
Dr Cialdini's guidance included a section on influencing across cultures. According to his presentation, different principles govern how people in different countries respond to someone who requests something from them, as follows:
• In the US, UK, and Canada: 'What has this requester done for me recently?'
• In the Far East (eg China, Hong Kong, Singapore): 'Is this requester connected to a member of my small group, especially someone of high rank?'
• In the Mediterranean countries (eg Spain, Italy, Greece): 'Is this requester connected to one of my friends?'
• In Germany and the Scandinavian countries: 'According to official rules and categories, am I supposed to help this requester?'
This is taken from a copy of his presentation, which the Cabinet Office provided to the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ in response to our freedom of information request for it. I can't show you the actual slides, due to copyright restrictions imposed by Dr Cialdini. But if you want to know more you can read an article by him on page 76 of . It turns out it's all based on a study of Citibank employees and their willingness to co-operate with requests from colleagues.
By the way Cialdini's book Influence is well worth reading in my view - one of its key merits indeed being that it is fully sourced, in contrast to numerous business or pop psychology works on similar subject-matter.
According to his website, 'In the field of influence and persuasion, Dr Cialdini is the most cited social psychologist in the world today'. If you're impressed by that, it's only because it's an example of what he himself would call 'social proof'. As he told ministers, 'People are likely to follow the lead of multiple, comparable others'. Looks like I fell for it.
But anyway we may now see whether Cialdini's advice has much impact on British diplomacy. Unfortunately he didn't seem to have anything to say on the social norms affecting principles of influence in Iran (but then Citibank's not big in Tehran).
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Well it seems to work when it's used properly but I think the required actions are different than presented here or possibly in the original document. As an example, the US government wanted support from those on the UN Security Council who could potentially veto the invasion of Iraq. Its singular success was Britain, with the rest it blundered with complete incompetence. To motivate Britain, the US had to wait six months in what it knew would be a failed effort to get a SC resolution passed. Britain is motivated by the desperate need to be liked especially by the US. It cherishes the illusion of its "special relationship" above all else. The mere effort on America's part was sufficient. With France, Russia, China, and Germany the required tactics would be different but I don't think the suggestions in the document are the most effective means or even helpful. Rather, the "universal grease" would have gotten the skids moving. Applying just the right bribes to the right people in the right way would have gotten the US exactly what it wanted. In the cases of China, Russia, and Germany, contracts, favorable trade policy, or some other token benefitting the most suitable influential people would have been appropriate and knowing who those people are and what they want is the job of the State Department. In the case of France it's much easier. Cash under the table always speaks loudly to them, they are as corrupt and easily bought as anyone in the world. Why didn't the US government understand that? Doesn't it know that in motivating people, their most vulnerable spot is their ego? And catering to it is the surest way to get them to behave as you want. A bribe is an acknowledgement of their importance and power, at least in the minds of those receiving it. It is a universal truth that by their very nature human beings are corrupt and can be bought. The only question is the skill at applying that knowledge. America was the victim of the stupidity of its own misguided "clean" ethics. In diplomacy, honesty is the worst policy as diplomacy is lying by its very nature. Look at the success America is having now with India just by granting it freer access to what it already has and wants more of, peaceful use of nuclear technology.