Category 10 · 10 frameworks

Influence & Persuasion

Methods for earning agreement and driving change when you cannot simply instruct people.

Cialdini's Principles of Influence

Robert Cialdini; book Influence (1984), with a seventh principle, unity, added in the 2021 edition A set of principles describing what makes people more likely to say yes: reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, authority, liking, scarcity and unity. 02

Influence Without Authority

Allan Cohen and David Bradford; book Influence Without Authority (1990) An exchange-based model that treats influence as trading things others value, using the idea of 'currencies'. 03

Ethos, Pathos, Logos

Aristotle; Rhetoric Three modes of persuasion: credibility of the speaker (ethos), emotional appeal (pathos) and logical argument (logos). 04

Elaboration Likelihood Model

Richard Petty and John Cacioppo, social psychologists, developed in the 1980s A model describing two routes to persuasion: a central route based on careful thought about arguments, and a peripheral route based on cues such as credibility or presentation. 05

Kotter's 8-Step Change Model

John Kotter; Harvard Business Review (1995) and book Leading Change (1996) An eight-step sequence for leading organisational change, from creating urgency to anchoring new approaches in the culture. 06

Diffusion of Innovations

Everett Rogers; book Diffusion of Innovations (1962) A theory describing how new ideas spread through groups, adopted in turn by innovators, early adopters, the early majority, the late majority and laggards. 07

Nudge (Choice Architecture)

Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein; book Nudge (2008) Shaping how choices are presented so that people are more likely to choose a beneficial option, while remaining free to choose otherwise. 08

Six Sources of Influence

Joseph Grenny, Kerry Patterson, David Maxfield, Ron McMillan and Al Switzler, VitalSmarts; book Influencer (2008) A model that explains behaviour through six sources, personal, social and structural, each split into motivation and ability. 09

Switch: Rider, Elephant, Path

Chip Heath and Dan Heath; book Switch (2010), drawing on Jonathan Haidt's elephant-and-rider metaphor A change framework that addresses the rational mind (rider), the emotional mind (elephant) and the environment (path). 10

Golden Circle

Simon Sinek; book Start With Why (2009) A communication model that starts with why you are doing something, then how, then what, to connect with people's motivations.

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