START DIFFERENTLY by Richard Bois & Gloria Hunter - How to inspire your people, turn conflicts into cooperation and run successful projects

Sample reading

DO NOT COPY EVERYBODY’S MISTAKES

When was the last time you attended a truly constructive workshop, a captivating speech or a convincing, crystal clear presentation? Most likely this does not happen to you every day. The simple reason is that most presenters start off the wrong way by focusing on disagreements rather than what the group has in common. Therefore they fail to make the great impact on their audience they set out to achieve. In this book you will learn how to invite everybody to be open for change, open for listening, open for active participation, and become ready for action. You will learn how to succeed in workshops, presentations and speeches despite strong opposition and conflict of interest. You will learn to start differently.

 

WHO IS USING THE POWER OF THE RICHARD BOIS CONCEPT?

(…) A fun and interesting exercise will let you assess in minutes whether people are likely to succeed or fail and why this is the case. (…)

Buy a magazine, read interviews of famous politicians and business people on subjects like pension reform, getting the economy buoyant again, global warming or any other topic which is of interest to you and contains a level of controversy. Buy a set of text markers. You need the following colours: blue, yellow, orange, green, and magenta. Mark the words of the interview using the following colour coding:

„„Blue – Problem Statement and Objective(s)

„„Yellow – Facts

„„Orange – Conclusions

„„Green – Elements of SWOT

„„Magenta – Strategies and Action Plans

„„You do not highlight sentences which do not fit any of the above, or are just filler sentences.

By doing this exercise you will discover that people who win over others as ambassadors of their proposal, will be very well-balanced in their speech/interview, and you will find a mixture of colours.

(…)

Not many people will be able to pass your test. Only the best will be well-balanced. They are the doers and shakers of this world. Most people will be leaning towards one colour:

  • The kings of boredom will appear in yellow: they mention lots of facts, do not come to conclusions, do not create enthusiasm. The good thing about them: they find out immediately that they don’t get their audience to buy in, and they do not overestimate their power.
  • The most popular species is the magenta junkie: she offers lots of proposals on what to do next without convincing people why they should change something they have done for years. Later the magenta junkie will say,‘I told them a year ago, they just didn’t listen to me.’
  • The king of Orange County wants to make us believe things without explaining why we should be of the same opinion. Some follow, many do not.
  • The woman in blue bores us with too many objectives; she appears very determined and focused – but the crowd does not follow her with their heart. And it takes her a long time to find out that people aren’t following her.
  • And finally: the green-free people. They can talk endlessly but they never come to the point. They get lost in too many topics and too many priorities.