How to Convince?

“Hey, How are you doing?”

“Doing good. What about you?”

“I am good. Thanks. Do you have any feedback for me with respect to my performance or attitude”

“No! All good”

“Would I be eligible for promotion this year?”

“Not Sure. It’s difficult. I will propose but unsure how leadership decides”

Saroj met his manager Manish for one on one. He planned to discuss his promotion this time. It is two years since he was given no reason to not get to the next level. He thought this time he will discuss more openly.

The last response from Manish is what he expected as he is getting the same response for the past few years.

He just kept quiet and maintained eye contact and could see Manish feeling uncomfortable.

Manish spoke again, “You need to do more to get to the next level”

“Define “More” to me?”, Saroj confronted softly.

“You are not visible, other departments should know you by your performance”, Manish said something substantial this time.

Saroj asked, “I am in charge of testing and ensuring the quality of the product. I have no business with other products. I need your help to tell me, how can I gain visibility”

Manish was feeling awkward now. He did not have a ready answer now.

“I also want to understand the definition of ‘Visibility. At what visibility level I can get ready to go to the next level”, Saroj added.

“I will get you more details on this next time. You too think what you can do”, Manish tried to come out of the loop.

“When?”, Saroj asked.

“By the next one on one”, Manish responded after some thought.

“Okay, So by the next One on one you will tell me how can I get more visibility and the level of visibility I need to get promoted to the next level”, Saroj reflected.

They both smiled and concluded. Manish was exhausted and was not expecting such interrogation from Saroj. He quickly scheduled a meeting with his manager to ensure he convinces him to support Saroj’s promotion.

We all are on either side of this story. Where we have to convince people enough to take some action. What you saw in the above conversation is following a technique called “street epistemology”. Street Epistemology is a way to help people reflect on the quality of their reasoning through civil conversation.

Here is the link to my mindmap about the steps we can follow to practice Street Epistemology.

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