Changing Minds: The Art and Science of Changing Our Own and Other Peoples Minds

Most academics believe it's impossible to write intelligent books in plain language that will grab the interest of lay readers...perhaps this one will change their minds. This short book is a pleasure to read. Author and scholar Howard Gardner addresses a general readership without assuming that his readers have academic experience with psychological theories. This is a rare tome indeed - a book by a Harvard psychology don that is intelligible, elucidating and entertaining. Gardner covers all the elements of how people change their minds and couches an appeal to what he calls the "unschooled" mind. He discusses how minds change, how intelligence works and what factors influence people's thinking. Although he does not provide much tactical advice on applying his principles to be more persuasive, almost everyone can learn something new from this book, which we highly recommend. Not only could you benefit from exploring how to change people's minds, you may even change your own mind about the persuasive approaches you use every day.

Most of Howard Gardner's work is written for an academic and education audience. This book, like his earlier Leading Minds, is directed primarily to a business and general audience. I regard Leading Minds as one of the best current books on leadership and Changing Minds adds very useful insights into how to be effective in one of the key activities of a leader. The core of the book is concerned with identifying the seven factors at work in changes of mind and how they are applied in situations ranging from dealing with small homogeneous groups through to dealing with large and very diverse groups. In the course of the book, he appeals to the concept of the 'schooled' and the 'unschooled' mind (a person who is vey sophisticated in some fields may judge issues outside those fields in an 'unschooled' way), which he introduced in Leading Minds. He also refers to - and updates - his now famous concept of multiple intelligences,with the advice that one is more likely to be successful in mind changing if several intelligences can be appealed to (think of the power of a song - words and music - compared with plain text). The book provides a very valuable guide for those concerned with gaining acceptance for and implementing change. For a somewhat different - and also very useful - perspective, it is worth comparing this book with Hultman: Making Change Irresistible. Gladwell: The Tipping Point also provides a different but complementary perspective on the factors and agents in acceptance of a new idea, fashion or concept. He focuses on what it is that causes an 'infection' to move suddenly from a few isolated cases to a full-blown 'epidemic'. The book contains useful reflections on the skills and situations required for this to happen. 

Howard Gardner summarizes an impressive ensemble of information about changing minds. But perhaps more importantly, he recognizes the limits inherent in such an endeavor. Minds are not something we can readily study with a microscope or experiment on physically. A study of this topic must of necessity be anecdotal and philosophical. But rather than spend chapters defining taxonomies of thought or relentlessly hammering home his theories, he wittily teaches us with both fun with absurd illustrations of his ideas. He chooses a silly essay by Nicholson Baker alongside the far more practical 80/20 principle to focus on in Chapter 1. He names his levers of mind-changing with the starting letters "re" as if to artfully acknowledge that there could be 8 or 6 instead of the 7 he has arrived at. And unlike many writers, Gardner adheres to the rule of writing about what he knows. Many of his examples hail from academia where he is an assured expert such as the successful attempt by Dartmouth's president to revitalize that institution. He regales us with political leaders that resonate with us: Margaret Thatcher, Bill Clinton, Gandhi, Mandela, and Thomas Jefferson to name a few. And one of his best examples serves as a powerful experiment in mind-changing (at least for me). He revisits the blow-up between the esteemed Cornell West and Lawrence Summers. I remember reading about this in the press and wondering what all the fuss could be about. Like Summers, I "believe in being direct, expressing my views, and letting the chips fall where they may." After reading Gardner's fictional account of how the meeting might have played out, I've changed my mind about the best way to influence others. And just as Gardner describes, this process started some time ago (with a trusted superior suggesting I work at being a little more "discrete"). Gardner's book has proven to be the tipping point in my own change-of-mind and a useful blue-print for how to change minds unlike my own.

One key to success is the ability to influence people's thinking. Whether one is attempting to introduce a major organizational change or convince consumers to switch brands, the ability to change people minds is an important business process.Howard Gardner, a Harvard psychologist who specializes in cognitive theory, offers us insight into what happens when one changes his or her mind. In order to change someone's mind, Gardner writes, one has to produce a shift in that person's perceptions, codes and the way he or she retains and accesses information. There are seven levers to change, he says.1. Reason.2. Research3. Resonance4. Re-descriptions5. Rewards6. Real World Events7. Resistances.Gardner explores how these levers are employed in six realms.1. Diverse Groups - such as a nation.2. Homogeneous Groups - corporations, universities.3. Culture - Changes effected by art, science or scholarship.4. Classroom5. Intimate Gatherings - one-on-one meetings, family gathering.6. Changes within one's mind.This book is enlightening and compelling. It offers insights into the methods one can employ to influence others and oneself.

Howard Gardner is an education thought-leader who has changed minds at many levels - among his students, with educators and society at large. In "Changing Minds", Howard Gardner re-examines concepts presented in his earlier works - i.e. multiple intelligences, the "disciplined" mind, the importance of integrating ethics with instruction/leadership, etc. He then presents seven "levers" for changing minds and discusses their application at various levels of mind change (from societal to intimate relationships). As usual, Gardner has produced an important, well organized book supported with excellent real-world examples. Unfortunately, the book stops short of providing specific tools and techniques for applying his model for changing minds. Perhaps in a sequel, Gardner will share more specific tools and techniques that may be used to "map the mental terrain", compile and present convincing research, build resonance and breakdown resistance. (Those looking for more detail may want to dig deeper into the tools/techniques used in organizational development, team-building, leadership development and self-awareness.) Nevertheless, a book worth reading for the model presented and reminder that one must keep both the mind and ears open to effectively change others.