How to Influence Using Inconsequence

(16417) Dave Lakhani says:

Popular wisdom states that the jouney of a thousand miles begins with a single step. The same is true of persuasion. To get people on your side, don’t try to get them to accept one big idea. Instead, get the other person to accept a whole lot of little ideas until his or her resistance to the big idea is reduced to a manageable size.

Inconsequence requires the small points agreed to or the small concessions made to lead to the big decision you want them to make. This is not a party trick where you get people to say yes to a bunch of things and then throw in a completely different idea you also want them to say yes to. Instead, you want to carefully select the most influential and easiest to accept idea first. Get the other person’s agreement on that point, and then others. By the time a final decision is required, it will be very easy for them to come to the appropriate conclusion.

In some ways, inconsequence is actually a covert persuasion tactic. It engages the feeling of accomplishment. Once a few points have been ironed out, and some minor agreements reached, it will feel good. Both you and the other person will feel like progress is being made. Rapport and friendship will increase because you’ll feel like you have something in common. On the basis of the fact that solutions have been found to a number of different aspects, the other party will feel like they are in reach of finalizing a solution to the bigger problem. There will be no desire on their part to revisit old points or go over old ground with someone new. This is the beauty of inconsequence as an influencer. The other person or people will be much less likely to want to restart the process with someone new when the promise of finalizing a solution is right on the horizon.