One is enough, if…

By Chris Trout | February 7, 2008

Once again, marketing (with integrity) guru Tom Asaker has reported on an idea that has direct application to strengths development in kids – as well as our workplaces, homes, relationships and personal development.

In a recent blog, Tom comments on a study reported in a recent Journal of Personality and Social Development by University of Michigan's Professor Steven Garcia and others. While Garcia reports that "an opinion is likely to be more widely shared the more different people express it," the study also found that "hearing just one person express the same opinion multiple times had nearly the same effect on a listener's perception of the opinion being popular as hearing multiple people state the same opinion."

This is the drip, drip, drip effect I have written about before. Once we have identified and communicated a strength (and the evidence of it) once, we must notice and comment on the appearance of that strength every time we see it, over and over again. As was demonstrated in this study, this repetition (paired with the concrete evidence we provide) goes a long way toward establishing the information as credible and believable. This is the power of one. It's nice to have everyone on your team seeing and affirming strengths, but if you are the only one, keep on keeping on. Your repeated efforts are nearly as powerful as many people saying the same thing.

More about the study can be found in Tom's Blog, a clear eye.