Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki
Who is this book for?
Enchantment is an inspiring set of guiding principles to grow yourself and your company into a trusted and inspiring brand. This book is for anyone who is looking to make progress in their career by developing or sharpening their interpersonal skills and/or becoming competent in the world of social media.
Introduction xvii
My Story xvii
Enchantment: the process of delighting people with a product, service, organization, or idea.
Outcome of enchantment: voluntary and long-lasting support that is mutually beneficial.
Our Journey xx
This book is for people who see life for what it can be rather than what it can’t
Let's Get Started xxii
Chapter 1: Why Enchantment? 1
What Is Enchantment? 1
When Is Enchantment Necessary? 2
When you enchant people, your goal is not to make money from them or to get them to do what you want, but to fill them with great delight.
When you need it: Aspiring to lofty, idealist results (convince people to dream the same dream you do), Making difficult, infrequent decisions, overcoming entrenched habits, defying a crowd, and preceding despite delayed or nonexistent feedback.
What Are People Thinking? 3
Imagine yourself as the person you want to enchant and ask yourself the following questions: What does this person want, is the change worth the effort, and can I change?
Where Should You Draw the Line? 4
The line between unethical and ethical, ask yourself these questions: are you asking people to do something that you wouldn’t do? Do your interests conflict? Have you hidden your conflicts of interest? Are you telling “noble lies?” Are you enchanting gullible people?
Examples and How to Use This Book 5
Enchantment isn’t black and white. Try out some of these ideas, modify and adapt as you go, abandon the losers, and run with winners.
Personal Stories 7
My Personal Story Eric Dawson 8
Chapter 2: How to Achieve Likability 9
Step one is achieving likability, because jerks seldom enchant people
Make Crow's-Feet 9
Smile at people. Think positively so it is a genuine smile.
Dress for a Tie 11
How you dress shouldn’t conflict with what you stand for (if you wear jeans, wear jeans if it is acceptable in your workplace. If you are a suit guy and don’t feel comfortable wearing jeans, keep the suit).
Perfect Your Handshake 12
A good handshake is a big part of first impressions
Use the Right Words 13
Use simple words
Use the active voice
Keep it short
Use common, unambiguous analogies (be mindful of cultural differences)
Accept Others 14
People are not binary, they are multidimensional with strengths and weaknesses
Everyone is better than you at something
People are more similar than they are different
People deserve a break
Get Close 15
“The single most important factor in determining whether or not you connect with another person is neither personality nor mutual interests – it is simple proximity” (Click: The Magic of Instant Connections by the Brafman brothers)
EBWA: Enchantment by wandering around
Don't Impose Your Values 17
A health organization once tried to scare teens from smoking marihuana by telling them that young people who smoked it were five times more likely to engage in sex. Do you think this pitch would encourage or discourage teenagers from smoking the evil weed?
Pursue and Project Your Passions 17
Pursuing and projecting your passions can make you enchanting
Interesting people are enchanting
Find Shared Passions 20
Assume everyone has a passion
Assume you have something in common
Do your homework
Create Win-Win Situations 21
One way to get people to like you is to create win-win outcomes
Swear 21
Swear infrequently
Swear only in cases of forehead-smacking hypocrisy, arrogance, intentional inaccuracy, and dishonesty
Swear only when your audience supports you
Soften your profanity
Don’t let gender get in the way. Women, don’t be afraid to swear but follow the above suggestions
Default to Yes 24
A no-response stops everything
My Personal Story Fran Shea 25
Chapter 3: How to Achieve Trustworthiness 27
Trust Others 27
People who don’t trust others have often had bad experiences that cause them to embrace a distrusting, kill-or-be-killed philosophy
Be a Mensch 28
The Yiddish word mensch means someone who is honest, fair, kind, and transparent, no matter whom you’re dealing with and who will ever know what you did
Focus on goodwill
Give people the benefit of the doubt
Disclose Your Interests 30
People will wonder what your motivation is, so get this out of the way
Give for Intrinsic Reasons 31
Reciprocity
Gain Knowledge and Competence 31
Show Up 33
In digital speak, this means answering your e-mail, tweets, voicemail, and video chats
Bake a Bigger Pie 33
Baking a bigger pie increases your trustworthiness and yields these benefits: people work together, the “state of the art” progresses and changes and customers increase in number and diversity
Enchant People on Their Own Terms 34
Position Yourself 35
Four good qualities of a good positioning statement: short, clear, different, and humble
Be a Hero 36
My Personal Story Tony Morgan 37
Chapter 4: How to Prepare 39
Do Something Great 39
Qualities of a great product: intelligent, complete, empowering, and elegant
Conduct a "Premortem" 42
Prevent the potential problems in order to increase the likelihood of success.
Set Yourself Up for Success 43
Make It Short, Simple, and Swallowable 45
Communicate in an easy-to-swallow manner. Ways to do this: Use tricolons, use metaphors, use similes, keep it short, (email: sex sentences, video: sixty seconds, PowerPoint: ten slides, business plan: twenty pages), stay positive, and show respect.
Remove the Fences 47
Company and product names should be easy to remember and pronounce
Use unusual names to stand out (Haagen-Dazs, Amazon, Zappos)
Provide a Default Option 49
Establish Goals 50
Stating goals adds to your trust factor
Create a Checklist 51
It helps people take action
It shows that you respect people’s time and communicates that you know how to get things done
It motivates people and gives people a sense of accomplishment
My Personal Story Mike Stevens 53
Chapter 5: How to Launch 55
Tell a Story 55
Four storylines: great aspirations, David versus Goliath, profiles in courage, personal stories
Immerse People 57
The level beyond storytelling is immersing people in your cause
Examples: enable vicarious experiences, get as close to the real situation as possible, make a great demo, anchor, and twist
Promote Trial 60
Your trials should be easy, immediate, inexpensive, concrete, and reversible
Prime the Pump 61
The right environment can enchant people
Plant Many Seeds 61
Embrace the nobodies
Give up the illusion of control
Plant many seeds
Ask People What They're Going to Do 63
Three benefits of asking people if they intend to support you:
You’ll know where you stand
The act of asking can make people reach the tipping point and commit to you
If people do commit to you, then they’ll want to live up to their word
Reduce the Number of Choices 64
More choices can lead to dissatisfaction because people may look back and wonder if another of the options would have been better.
Increase the Number of Choices 65
Test out what is the right number for you and your product
Illustrate the Salient Point 66
Does the information help a customer make a decision?
Present the Big, Then the Small Choice 66
If you can get people to agree to small favors now, they are more likely to grant you big favors in the future
Get Your First Follower 68
My Personal Story Matt Maurer 68
Chapter 6: How to Overcome Resistance 70
Why People Are Reluctant 70
Five common sources of resistance: inertia, hesitation to reduce options, fear of making a mistake, lack of role models, and your cause sucks!
Provide Social Proof 72
People may infer that doing something wrong is OK if others are doing it, too.
Turn an inconvenience into positive marketing
Create the Perception of Ubiquity 74
Create the Perception of Scarcity 75
People assign value to something if they think it’s scarce
Scarcity encourages people to create secondary markets
Show People Your Magic 77
When people see how your magic works – manufacturing, brewing, cooking, designing, etc. – they develop an interest in what you do and are more likely to buy your products.
Find One Example 78
Large numbers can overwhelm people. Instead, use images, illustrate the numbers, and tell stories.
Find a Way to Agree 81
After establishing a toehold, beachhead, or common ground, you can build from there.
Methods to find a way to agree:
Get personal
Get professional
Harmonize objections
Ask “What if…”
Move the window
Find a Bright Spot 83
Instead of thinking you have the answer and trying to implement it, you should shut up, back off, and find bright spots that are already working
Assign a Label 84
Applying a label that complements your cause can encourage people to embrace your enchantment
Use a Data Set to Change a Mind-Set 85
Incur a Debt 87
Once a person has helped you, he’s more likely to help you again because refusing would mean he made a mistake in the first place
Enchant All the Influencers 88
It’s naïve to think that you need to enchant only one person, so work on all the influencers
Frame Thy Competition 91
Know your competition
Analyze the competition
Frame the competition
Control the Haptic Sensations 92
Simple tactile sensations influence high-order feelings and judgments (soft chairs, heavy clipboards, smooth objects)
Remember Charlie 93
My Personal Story Richard Fawal 93
Chapter 7: How to Make Enchantment Endure 95
Strive for Internalization 96
Three stages: conformity, identification, internalization
Separate the Believers 97
Pluralist Ignorance: the concept that people go along with something because they assume others will agree with it. This leads to “collective conservatism” or the unwillingness to change. A downward spiral you don’t want to be part of.
Push Implementation Down 98
The middle and bottoms of organizations are important, too – after all, that’s who does the real work
Use Intrinsic Methods 99
Extrinsic rewards such as money are not necessarily effective
Invoke Reciprocity 100
Give with joy, give early, give often and generously, give unexpectedly, and ask for reciprocation
Catalyze Commitment and Consistency 103
Build an Ecosystem 104
How to incite people to create or join your ecosystem:
Create something that’s worthy of an ecosystem
Identify and recruit your evangelists
Pick a champion for building the ecosystem
Give people something meaningful to do
Publish
Welcome criticism
Foster discourse
Create a reward system
Publicize the existence of the ecosystem
Diversity the Team 109
You should have various points of view in your organization. Here is a good mix:
Advocates
Skeptics
Visionaries
Adults
Evangelists
Rainmakers
Promote Spreadability 110
Encourage people to share freely
My Personal Story Chris Anthony 111
Chapter 8: How to Use Push Technology 112
General Principles 113
Engage fast
Engage many
Engage often
Use multiple media
Provide value
Give credit
Give people the benefit of the doubt
Accept diversity
Don’t take any crap
Limit promotion
Disclose your conflict
Presentations 115
Customize your introduction (use pictures)
Sell your dream
Think screenplay, not speech
Dramatize
Shorten
Practice (practice a lot)
Warm up your audience
peak a lot
E-mail 123
Get a real email (@yourcompany.com)
Get an introduction
Personalize the subject line
Keep it to six sentences
Suck up
Minimize attachments
Ask for something concrete
Twitter 126
Get started
Spruce up your photo
Provide a descriptive profile
Repeat your tweets
Post informative links
Push your own
StumbleUpon
SmartBrief
Alltop
Interns
Engage people manually
Promote your cause
Make it personal
My Personal Story Garr Reynolds 133
Chapter 9: How to Use Pull Technology 135
Web Sites and Blogs 135
Provide good content
Refresh it often
Skip the flash (and Flash)
Make it fast
Sprinkle graphics and pictures
Provide a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page
Craft an About page
Help visitors navigate
Introduce the team
Optimize visits for various devices
Provide multiple methods of access
Facebook 139
Add a landing tab to your fan page
Make us of Friend Lists
Use your personal profile for professional networking
Use @ tags strategically
Provide an area for your fans to promote themselves
Respond to fans’ posts promptly and personally
Surprise your fans
Give special gifts
Chat live with your fans
Get fans involved in product and content creation
Linkedln 142
Make a great profile (make sure your profile is up to date)
Get Visible
Reach out
YouTube 144
Provide intrinsic value
Inspiration
Entertainment
Enlightenment
Education
19.4% of views stop watching within the first ten seconds. Make sure you have a good opening.
Foster discovery, sharing, and identity
Think Japanese 148
Garr Reynold’s book Presentation Zen Design: Simple Design Principles and Techniques to Enhance Your Presentation
My Personal Story Meryl K. Evans 150
Chapter 10: How to Enchant Your Employees 151
Provide a MAP 151
Mastery, Autonomy, Purpose
Empower Them to Do the Right Thing 152
Let your employees do the right thing, and you’ll enchant them. And then they will enchant your customers.
Judge Your Results and Others' Intentions 153
Judge yourself by what you’ve accomplished and others by what they intend
Address Your Shortcomings First 154
People who adopt a self-criticism strategy will improve as managers because they take responsibility for lousy outcomes
Suck It Up 154
Sometimes you should suck it up and deal with adversity because that’s what great people do
Don't Ask Employees to Do What You Wouldn't Do 156
Celebrate Success 157
Emphasize team wins rather than individual ones and give credit to all the employees involved
Find a Devil's Advocate 158
Improve your cause
Show that rocking the boat is acceptable
Foster internal communication
Listen to Brother Bob 159
Bob Sutton’s list of twelve beliefs of good bosses
Tell Them You Want Them 161
Once you have decided to have a candidate, you should turn on the charm, and communicate that you want him
How to Enchant Volunteers 161
Set ambitious goals
Manage them well
Enable them to fulfill their needs
Ensure that the paid staff appreciates them
Give feedback
Provide recognition
Invite them in
Provide free stuff
My Personal Story Milene Laube Dutra 163
Chapter 11 How to Enchant Your Boss 165
Make Your Boss Look Good 165
Drop Everything and Do What Your Boss Asks 166
No matter what the reason – and even if there is no good reason – do what your boss asks fist
Underpromise, Overdeliver 167
Set a goal that you’re 120% sure you can hit in 80% of the allotted time
Prototype Your Work 167
When you get an assignment from your boss, you should quickly complete part of the task and ask for feedback
Show and Broadcast Progress 168
Form Friendships 169
Forming friendships makes you more efficient and effective
Friends beget more friends
Many friends create a halo
People don’t screw around with people with many friends
Ask for Mentoring 170
Ask for a mentor. You will flatter the person and (hopefully) get some great advice
Heed to advice, not listening can backfire on you
Deliver Bad News Early 170
Don’t blame anyone
Don’t just tell your boss the bad news
My Personal Story David Stockwell 171
Chapter 12: How to Resist Enchantment 173
Avoid Tempting Situations 173
Look Far into the Future 174
Consider the impact your current actions will make in a year or more
Know Your Limitations 175
Become aware of your limitations
Beware of Pseudo Salience, Data, and Experts 175
Michael Mauboussin author of Think Twice
Experts are helpful except when they are wrong. The problem is, that people tend to believe experts even when they are wrong.
Don't Fall for the Example of One 177
One glaring data point doesn’t determine a trend, so don’t let it sway you.
Defy the Crowd 178
The wisdom of the crowd isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be
Track Previous Decisions 179
A written journal of your decision-making is a useful tool for tracking your history
Let Yourself Be Enchanted in Small Ways 180
Ask yourself, is there any harm if I do this?
Create a Checklist 181
When faced with an enchanting proposition, it’s useful to go through a checklist of the critical factors to consider.
My Personal Story Tibor Kruska 182
Conclusion 183
Enchantment is a powerful skill, and with power comes responsibility