Written by: Vickie Sullivan  |  May 22, 2018

Create Your Best Path Forward

In my last post, we talked about creating comparisons that pave the way to new thinking. Which begs the question: Now what? That reminded me of an excellent example from historian Yuval Noah Harari’s TED Talk last month. (You can watch his presentation via the TED2018 website. Note: There is a $25 fee for each session, each of which has several presentations.)

His attention-grabber: He appeared as a holograph. But let’s look past that and drill down on what he did after setting up his cool idea.

First, the set up was a great springboard. Instead of giving us a history lesson, he gave a nuanced comparison between nationalism and fascism. Why this worked: We see both as threats and do tend to put both in the same category. That explanation seduced us into his other points. Best money line: Evil doesn’t look ugly. By this time, the audience is all in.

Second, his path forward was simple, yet profound: Get to know your weaknesses. Why this works: We want to immediately understand what to do next, but we also know that achieving this goal will be a struggle. It is that juxtaposition—instant simplicity and aspiration that’s worth the future struggle—that makes us want to change. The gauntlet has been thrown down.

Listen: How to position your best path forward

Once we adopt a new understanding, we want to know what to do next. And we are more apt to go on that journey when we are clear about the path ahead and have a heads-up on the struggle.

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