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Good management demands knowing when to listen and paraphrase versus when to listen and analyze. |
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Tip 463: Overcome personal bias to evaluate effectively. |
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Although difficult, recognizing the need for objectivity on occasion improves our reception to message's. Be aware of stereotypical thinking and negative thinking; otherwise, your reactions and the resulting situation become self-fulfilling prophecies. |
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Tip 464: Sift out propaganda techniques as you listen. |
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The bandwagon approach invites you to accept an idea or take an action just because everybody else is: "This has been our most popular desk chair" or "Here, listen to what Mr. Smoe says about this plan." |
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The all-or-nothing persuader insists that you must accept everything about an idea or reject it in total. Either you take the plan in its entirety or forget it. Either you buy the product and all related services or it won't work at all. |
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The generalization leads you to come to a conclusion based on a single or a few incidents or facts. "John Smith is an engineer who can't write well; therefore, no engineers write well." |
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The like-one-like-'em-all pitch links the new to the old, with the intent of giving your one idea a free ride. "You loved hearing Roland speak last year? Then you're going to really like Fred" or "You remember how well this process worked last year? Then we can set it up the same way this year." |
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This next propaganda technique is more subtle: I call 'em like I see 'em. The persuader hopes to color your thinking simply by his or her word choice: "This outdated system . . ." and before long you find yourself thinking the system is outdated. "This leading-edge technology . . ." and soon you find yourself thinking of that company's technology as the wave of the future. All because the persuader labeled things so. |
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The card-stacking persuader tells you only the facts that he or she wants you to hear, selectively omitting others that would give you both sides of the picture. And every argument seems right until you hear the other side. |
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Finally, the evangelistic persuader uses hot, emotion-evoking, descriptive words to stir people to action. "Are you going to let those rich tycoons sitting in their ivory towers with their $1000 pin-striped suits kick you while you're down?" |
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Think critically to avoid being taken in by these indirect tactics and inconclusive arguments. |
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