Humans are tribal. We evolved in small groups where it was a bad idea to stand out.

When we’re faced with a choice between being correct or being accepted, more often than not we choose the latter. 

Changing our minds can result in a perception that we’re losing status. We need psychological safety in order to do it. We need to know that we’re not going to lose a friend. We need to know that promotions are not affected by disagreement.

One of the reasons it’s easi...

When it comes to changing our minds two things that stand out are:

• it’s best done by someone we like
• group settings influence what we think.

We’re most likely persuaded by people we like. When’s the last time you didn’t like or respect someone and...

Persuading others, and even ourselves is about more than just putting facts out there and letting the chips fall as they may. You simply can’t have the impact you want with facts alone.

The first thing we do when people disagree with us is attempt to educate them by giv...

While you have to understand the facts and arguments, you really need to understand what’s already in their head and how those ideas got there in the first place before you can change someone’s mind.

• When we’re alone we don’t have to admit to others what changed our mind. In fact, we often don’t know what changed our mind. If we watch a documentary on sugar and resolve to eat less sugar we might not know which part of the argument changed our mind, we only know that we’r...