A Beautiful Day

It’s a beautiful day. There are lots of people, young and old, enjoying themselves in the public park. A blind man is sitting on the pavement and begging silently. A piece of cardboard lying next to his collection tin says: “Have compassion. I am blind.”

Several people walk past him. Once in a while someone throws a coin into his tin. Then a smart young man with a stylish briefcase in hand – most probably a manager or a professional – appears. First he walks past. A few steps later he stops and walks back to the blind man. He doesn’t throw any coins into the tin but picks up the man’s cardboard sign, writes something on it, and walks away.

Soon passers-by throw coins and currency notes into the blind man’s tin. He is thrilled at the windfall but has no clue why folks have become so generous so suddenly. Soon the young man returns and stops by.  “What did you do to my sign?” asks the blind man as he figures out that this visitor is the one who did something to the sign. The young man smiles and replies: “Oh, I wrote the same. But in different words.” The blind man’s new sign reads: “Today is a beautiful day, and I cannot see it.”

This is a brief, black-and-white summary of a lovely short film presented at Cannes 2008, “Historia de un letrero, The Story of a Sign.” Do watch it at:  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyGEEamz7ZM&feature=fvw

This story illustrates the power of framing to persuade people. The young man reframes the blind man’s pompous exhortation into a simple but poignant statement. Now it is a hint that wakes up the dormant sense of guilt in the passers-by and prompts them to reach into their pockets for loose change.

Framing is the heart of persuasion. It’s framing that makes the difference between being good and being attractive. Between being supplicatory and being persuasive. But often we don’t invest enough in understanding the persuadee and choosing the most appropriate frame to present our proposals in. We make our expectations clear but are disappointed when our targets don’t respond the way we expect them to.

Many bosses mercilessly shoot down our proposals which involve expenses. The very same bosses may embrace them enthusiastically if these expenses are framed as investment with potential for great returns.

When asked to walk, six-year-old Rahul may complain of all sorts of problems such as pain in the feet, pain in the legs, and of course hunger all of which make it impossible for him to walk. No amount of cajoling works. He may sit down on the road unable to take even a single step. He entreats Papa to carry him. That is when Papa reframes the issue and presents it as a challenge: “Let’s see who can run faster. Rahul or Papa.” In most cases Rahul takes the bait and beats Papa triumphantly.   

Why do we forget such wonderful insights when we move from the personal world to the professional world? Is it because we are too easily tempted to rely on our positional power to force people to do things?