The Truth About Facts

There was an interesting article recently in the Boston Globe sharing the findings of political science researchers that show that sharing 'facts' with people not only doesn't change their minds....it reinforces their wrongly held opinions.

https://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/07/11/how_facts_backfire?mode=PF

MBA's, as managers, are responsible for sharing information with stakeholders (employees, peers, customers etc.). You may think "all I have to do is show them the 'facts' and they will agree with me". However, as these research findings suggest (and I'm sure what many of you reading this already know), presenting facts doesn't always have the desired effect.

If you are a manager or salesperson you are a teacher. You're an educator. As an educator it can be frustrating when your audience dismisses what you consider to be important information in the decision making process. But keep in mind that your audience (or stakeholders) must be open-minded. If they are not, don't engage them until they are. Also, don't rely on the facts to change their minds....this is your responsibility and it requires effective communication skills; emotional intelligence and logic.  If you throw too many facts at someone their natural inclination is to become defensive. They won't accept the facts because doing so will require a tacit or explicit admission that they held an incorrect belief. 

Keep in mind also that just because findings and data are published does not make them 'facts'. For example, findings generated from a student sample are hardly generalizable facts and don't represent the most rigorous research methodology. Survey data collected by HR leaders and marketers is often collected without consideration as to the design of the survey instrument. Therefore, the data collected is neither valid or going to be reliable. My point: If you are going to cite facts, you need to make sure they are 'facts'.