Winning
by Jack Welch
The harsh but true reality is that the croc brain—the source of your target’s first reaction to your pitch—is • Going to ignore you if possible. • Only focused on the big picture (and needs high-contrast and well-differentiated options to choose between). • Emotional, in the sense it will respond emotionally to what it sees and hears, but most of the time that emotional response is fear. • Focused on the here and now with a short attention span that craves novelty. • In need of concrete facts—it looks for verified evidence and doesn’t like abstract concepts. When you have a working theory of mind, you are able to understand how thoughts, desires, and intentions of others cause them to act. When someone can only see a situation one way, their theory of mind is weak. When you have a strong theory of mind, you recognize how other people have different perspectives—and that they know different things about the situation, and that their desires are not always the same as your desires. A strong theory of mind also will let you know that anything involving statistics needs to be highly simplified. The croc brain hates thinking about probabilities.
You create novelty by violating the target’s expectations in a pleasing way.
Every social interaction is a collision of frames, and the stronger frame always wins. Frame collisions are primal. They freeze out the neocortex and bring the crocodile brain in to make decisions and determine actions.
If you have to explain your authority, power, position, leverage, and advantage, you do not hold the stronger frame.
Realization 1: It doesn’t matter how much information you give, a lot or a little, but instead how good your theory of mind is. In other words, it’s important how well you can tune your information to the other person’s mind. Realization 2: All the important stuff must fit into the audience’s limits of attention, which for most people is about 20 minutes.
The Idea Introduction Pattern This idea introduction pattern goes like this: “For [target customers] Who are dissatisfied with [the current offerings in the market]. My idea/product is a [new idea or product category] That provides [key problem/solution features]. Unlike [the competing product]. My idea/product is [describe key features].”
"The harsh but true reality is that the croc brain—the source of your target’s first reaction to your pitch—is • Going to ignore you if possible. • Only focused on the big picture (and needs high-contrast and well-differentiated options to choose between). • Emotional, in the sense it will respond emotionally to what it sees and hears, but most of the time that emotional response is fear. • Focused on the here and now with a short attention span that craves novelty. • In need of concrete facts—it looks for verified evidence and doesn’t like abstract concepts."
"When you have a working theory of mind, you are able to understand how thoughts, desires, and intentions of others cause them to act. When someone can only see a situation one way, their theory of mind is weak. When you have a strong theory of mind, you recognize how other people have different perspectives—and that they know different things about the situation, and that their desires are not always the same as your desires. A strong theory of mind also will let you know that anything involving statistics needs to be highly simplified. The croc brain hates thinking about probabilities."
"As you craft your backstory, think in terms of how it come to be where it is today and how you found it. Describe the steps in its evolution, and show how it evolved—how it moved—to finally become the opportunity you have now identified and captured. The three basic steps are: 1. Explain the most important changes in our business. Forecast the trends. Identify important developments—both in your market and beyond. 2. Talk about the impact of these developments on costs and customer demand. 3. Explain how these trends have briefly opened a market window."
"You create novelty by violating the target’s expectations in a pleasing way."
"Every social interaction is a collision of frames, and the stronger frame always wins. Frame collisions are primal. They freeze out the neocortex and bring the crocodile brain in to make decisions and determine actions."
"If you have to explain your authority, power, position, leverage, and advantage, you do not hold the stronger frame."
"Realization 1: It doesn’t matter how much information you give, a lot or a little, but instead how good your theory of mind is. In other words, it’s important how well you can tune your information to the other person’s mind. Realization 2: All the important stuff must fit into the audience’s limits of attention, which for most people is about 20 minutes."
- →Every social interaction is a collision of frames, and the stronger frame always wins. Frame collisions are primal. They freeze out the neocortex and bring the crocodile brain in to make decisions and determine actions.
- →If you have to explain your authority, power, position, leverage, and advantage, you do not hold the stronger frame.
- →You don’t earn status by being polite, by obeying the established power rituals of business, or by engaging in friendly small talk before a meeting starts. What these behaviors might earn you is a reputation for being “nice.” They do nothing for your social position—except reduce it.
- →It doesn’t matter how well you argue, the way your points are crafted, or how elegant your flow and logic. If you do not have high status, you will not command the attention necessary to make your pitch heard. You will not persuade, and you will not easily get a deal done.
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