Question 1. You are a newly appointed manager and you arrive to your first day at the office or store. After a few weeks at your new job, you have many great ideas that you would like to institute, but it is clear that your subordinates are not interested in changing anything. Using concepts from the book, how might you convince your team to make changes without resorting to direct orders?
First, I will arouse a genuine interest on the person on what motivates them, instead of pushing for what I want (How to Win Friends and Influence People 7). I will ensure that my words are based on understanding how my idea can fit in to what motivates my subordinates because that will make them cooperate and appreciate more the ideas I offer the team. Additionally, if I genuinely know their interests, then I can easily sway them to see things my way without forcing the idea to them (How to Win Friends 18). Secondly, I will adapt the style of asking questions instead of giving direct orders to my subordinates (How to Win Friends 42). It is a fact that people do not like being ordered around. Thus, instead of giving orders, I can try to rephrase my ideas in such a way that encourages creativity and generates more ideas. Lastly, I can use the approach of letting “the other person feel that the idea is his or hers” (How to Win Friends 30). It makes people cooperate more when an idea comes from them, thus, what I can do is to guide them and lead them towards the ideas I have and back down when it seems that they have gotten a clear understanding of the initial aspects of the idea. Then, I will let them see through the idea to the end, ensuring that I guide them with questions that will help them come up with the original idea I have thought about. With this approaches, I think my subordinates will not reject changes or feel threatened when presented with new ideas.
Question 2. What is the most useful concept you learned from this book? Why?
I think the most useful concept I learned from this book is “Become genuinely interested in other people” (How to Win Friends 9) because it summarizes the whole concept of how to win friends and influence them to follow my beliefs. All other concepts presented in the article entails having a good idea about the people we want to influence and without understanding and knowing who they are, what motivates them, what their values are, and why they think and do things the way they do them, among others, it will be difficult to reach out to other people and make a difference in their lives or their way of thinking.
Question 3. What concept do you disagree with from this book? Why?
I think the concept that I do not agree with in this book is avoiding the occasion of an argument (How to Win Friends 20). This is because arguments are common in whatever situation an individual is in – whether a person is dealing with family, friends, and colleagues, arguments are inevitable. I believe that arguments can be turned into avenues where people can come up with creative ideas as long as people understand not to take situations personally.
Works Cited
“How to Win Friends and Influence People.” n.d. PDF.
