Title: Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions
Writer: Guy Kawasaki
Persuasion, while important when trying to influence potential clients and consumers to change brands or companies, isn’t always an easy task. Instead of using the difficult assignment of persuasion, author Guy Kawasaki suggests enchanting people in his new book “Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions”. The entrepreneur offers some helpful tips on how to overcome other people’s established habits and encourage them to support your cause.
In “Enchantment”, Kawasaki draws on his experience from his time serving as the chief evangelist of Apple, an entrepreneur and venture capitalist to not only explain what enchantment is, but to also explain how to obtain likability and trustworthiness, overcome resistance and make enchantment endure. The author states that enchantment is not merely getting what you want; it also brings a voluntary and lasting change in other people. By being likable, trustworthy and presenting a cause that others can embrace, enchanters can change other people’s opinions and actions. But enchanting people doesn’t mean manipulating them; it entails changing skeptics and cynics into believers and the undecided into the loyal. Kawasaki also claims that enchantment can happen during any relationship and activity, ranging from informal Facebook messages to high-level corporate negotiations.
Kawasaki’s suggestions are geared towards, and beneficial to, both organizations trying to enchant potential clients and customers and individuals trying to enchant possible employers and supporters of their cause. For example, the author advises his readers to immediately and completely disclose their interests, and be completely knowledgeable about their causes, so that they can fully obtain the trust of those they’re trying to enchant. Trust is an important aspect of all relationships, business or personal; relationships aren’t beneficial if both parties can’t trust each other.
Two of the most valuable chapters that can also help both organizations and individuals achieve enchantment are titled “How to Use Push Technology” and “How to Use Pull Technology.” Kawasaki explains that such technology as PowerPoint, Twitter, e-mail, Web sites, blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube can quickly bring information about a cause to potential clients. Not only that, the more technology used, the more potential clients can be reached.
While Kawasaki provides some useful information about promoting causes in “Enchantment”, the author sometimes presents the details in a patronizing way. It seems that because he found success as a venture capitalist and served as one of the Apple employees who helped promote the Macintosh in 1984, he believes his ways of enchantment are the only right ways. For example, in the “How to Pull Technology” chapter, Kawasaki rightfully recommends companies use Web sites and blogs to help sell products and offer support to customers. But then he further goes on to say that including useful and entertaining information and pictures about the product and company is the best way to enchant people. This suggestion seems obvious, and it’s questionable why he thinks companies wouldn’t already know this.
Kawasaki offers interesting suggestions on how to bring about voluntary and enduring changes in people through enchantment. He also is able to make readers understand why enchantment is important when it comes to promoting a cause, and informs them how to prepare for, and overcome, resistance. “Enchantment” would have worked better, however, if he didn’t subliminally make readers believe his way is the only way that works.
Overall: B
Written by: Karen Benardello
