The Catalyst: How to Change Anyone's Mind

by Jonah Berger Narrated by Keith Nobbs, Fred Irby

Overview

“Jonah Berger is one of those rare thinkers who blends research-based insights with immensely practical guidance. I am grateful to be one of the many who have learned from this master teacher.” -Jim Collins, author Good to Great, coauthor Built to Last

From the author of New York Times bestsellers Contagious and Invisible Influence comes a revolutionary approach to changing anyone's mind.

Everyone has something they want to change. Marketers want to change their customers' minds and leaders want to change organizations. Start-ups want to change industries and nonprofits want to change the world. But change is hard. Often, we persuade and pressure and push, but nothing moves. Could there be a better way?

This book takes a different approach. Successful change agents know it's not about pushing harder, or providing more information, it's about being a catalyst. Catalysts remove roadblocks and reduce the barriers to change. Instead of asking, “How could I change someone's mind?” they ask a different question: “Why haven't they changed already? What's stopping them?”

The Catalyst identifies the key barriers to change and how to mitigate them. You'll learn how catalysts change minds in the toughest of situations: how hostage negotiators get people to come out with their hands up and how marketers get new products to catch on, how leaders transform organizational culture and how activists ignite social movements, how substance abuse counselors get addicts to realize they have a problem, and how political canvassers change deeply rooted political beliefs.

This book is designed for anyone who wants to catalyze change. It provides a powerful way of thinking and a range of techniques that can lead to extraordinary results. Whether you're trying to change one person, transform an organization, or shift the way an entire industry does business, this book will teach you how to become a catalyst.

Editorial Reviews

AudioFile Magazine

"Narrator Keith Nobbs's low-key enthusiasm is the perfect embodiment of this audiobook's enlightening advice on influencing people. Nobbs lets the writing speak for itself, a style that allows listeners to decide how much they want to engage with the ideas of the author, a behavioral science professor. Narrator Fred Irby is similarly effective delivering shorter segments scattered throughout the production. The author says the key to influencing others is to respect their desire to decide for themselves what they think and do rather than feel influenced by others. Using a myriad of lucid examples in the realms of politics, business, and world affairs, he explains how to access motivations in people that are already present by removing common barriers to change."

From the Publisher

We’ve all been frustrated trying to change someone’s mind. In this captivating book, Jonah Berger removes that frustration by showing us how to remove the barriers to change. The Catalyst will teach you how to change anything."
—Charles Duhigg, bestselling author of The Power of Habit and Smarter Faster Better

“We all know it’s hard to change people’s minds. But now we know why: We’ve been doing it wrong. We’re spending too much time pushing people — and not nearly enough time removing the roadblocks to their taking action. In this cogent and compelling book, Jonah Berger outlines a smarter, more effective approach. Full of gripping anecdotes, smart science, and savvy advice, The Catalyst is an essential read for anyone in the business of change. Added bonus: It’s the rare business book that reads like a page-turner.”
—Daniel H. Pink, author of When and To Sell is Human

"The Catalyst is a fascinating read and a powerful toolkit to help us change minds, organizations, and hopefully even the world."
—Arianna Huffington, Founder & CEO, Thrive Global

“Berger draws on research and case studies and offers intriguing anecdotes...A well-written guide that can be useful in both business and personal life.”
—Kirkus Reviews

"[A] practical, convincing introduction to the art of persuasion....This broadly appealing guide will convince general readers, but will be of particular interest to sales and marketing professionals."
—Publishers Weekly

“Berger has an optimistic outlook, gently suggesting that great change agents aren’t more persuasive, but they're really catalysts.”
—Fortune Magazine

"If you want to create loyal trusting relationships with customers and the people in your life, you’ll read The Catalyst.”
—Small Business Trends

"In the new book The Catalyst, Wharton professor Jonah Berger cites studies showing that orders and warnings often backfire. In some cases, telling people not to do something made them want to do it even more. The secret is asking people to look out—not for themselves—but for the group. We are hardwired for social connectedness. We have an strong internal desire to protect 'the tribe' at all costs."
—Inc.com

"Berger’s approach sets his book apart from the others....Berger thoroughly explains HOW to catalyze principled persuasion. Therein is perhaps the greatest value of his rigorous and eloquent narrative."
—Blogging on Business

"An insightful book by one of my favorite authors....I love how this book presents influence as a way to remove barriers with clear and elegantly-written examples."
—FORBES.COM

Kirkus Reviews

2019-12-22
The way to change someone's mind—about anything—is not to be more persuasive; instead, find out what is preventing change.

Time and again, Berger (Marketing/Wharton, Univ. of Pennsylvania; Invisible Influence: The Hidden Forces That Shape Behavior, 2016, etc.) has discovered in his research that "pushing harder" does not sell a car, change someone's vote, or get a child to eat spinach. It is not more information, facts, or reasons that are needed. You change minds, he writes, by "removing roadblocks and lowering the barriers that keep people from taking action." Indeed, "the more we hear about what is preventing someone from changing, the easier it is to help." In each chapter, the author focuses on the key forces that encourage inertia: the tendency to push back when someone is trying to convince you, attachment to the status quo, reluctance to make big changes, uncertainty, and the need for more corroboration. Berger draws on research and case studies and offers intriguing anecdotes. He shows how a Florida anti-smoking effort built trust with teenagers, asking them what they wanted and encouraging their own decision-making rather than telling them what to do; and how a rabbi befriended a harassing Ku Klux Klan member and convinced him to abandon his extremist views. The author describes how people shed their "status quo bias" when they realize the cost of doing nothing and why identifying and exploiting a "movable middle" can win over swing voters. Uncertainty can be overcome by making new things easier to try by offering free samples. A reluctant boss's mind can be changed by enabling her to personally experience a novel approach to customer service. Detailed case studies include the story of how Americans abandoned their considerable reluctance to eat less desirable cuts of meat during World War II (with better cuts going to the military) when given recipes for using liver in meatloaf.

A well-written guide that can be useful in both business and personal life.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940173935571
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	03/10/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged

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