“You’ve always been this woman; life convinced you you were something different” (TEDx Talks, 2013). Talk about influence. What we tell ourselves, what others make us believe, and the environment we reside in all profoundly impact our lives, whether positive or negative. In Joseph Grenny’s TED Talk, he describes Jane, a young girl born in poverty in the Mathare Slum in Nairobi, Kenya, who was convinced that her only choice in life was to become a prostitute after becoming a mother. Fortunately, Jane completely changed her life by changing her behavior. She was able to bring herself out of poverty and prostitution into a home with her children–something she never dreamed possible.
Grenny also discusses the Six Sources of Influence. When Jane was presented with the six sources of influence, she was able to change her behaviors and escape the terrible life the world had convinced her of. It is interesting that this simple science of behavioral change can make such an impact.
Six Sources of Influence:
Source 1 - Personal Motivation - whether you want to do it.
Source 2 - Personal Ability - whether you can do it.
Source 3 - Social Motivation - whether other people encourage the right behaviors
Source 4 - Social Ability - whether other people provide help, information, or resources
Source 5 - Structural Motivation - whether the environment encourages the right behaviors
Source 6 - Structural Ability - whether the environment supports the right behaviors
(Grenny et al., 2007)
In the realm of education, I think even educators are convinced that they are something different than what they are. We have so much coming at us at once, that we can believe the world, or even other educators when they try to convince us of who we are or who we should be. This impacts our personal beliefs about ourselves and can cause doubt or frustration. Even our peers affect our actions and behaviors, and this pours over into our environment as a whole, keeping us from becoming the educators we were meant to be.
When it comes to my innovation plan, I believe it’s going to be an exciting, yet challenging process to implement the Six Sources of Influence. Jeni Cross, a behavior change expert, tells us that while information is not enough, the information we do give must be tangible and personalized (TEDx Talk, 2014). I’m excited to see where my innovation plan takes our educators as I implement these strategies. I hope they leave the Empower: Blended Leadership Program saying, ‘I’ve always been this teacher; life had convinced me I was something different.’
Grenny, J., Patterson, K., Maxfield, D., McMillan, R., & Switzler, A. (2007). Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change. McGraw-Hill Education.
TEDx Talks (2013, March 20). Change Behavior- Change the World: Joseph Grenny at TEDxBYU [Video]. TEDx. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5d8GW6GdR0
TEDx Talks (2014, May 5). Three Myths of Behavior Change - What You Think You Know That You Don't: Jeni Cross at TEDxCSU [Video]. TEDx Talks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5d8GW6GdR0
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