Bringing About Change: Individuals, Desires and Values

Bringing About Change: Individuals, Desires, and Values

Individuality

Each of us filters the world through our own cognitive biases—deleting, distorting, and generalizing information in a uniquely personal way. Yet beneath that individuality lie patterns we can recognize, allowing us to categorize people and groups into types. That categorization proves invaluable when marketing an idea, crafting a message, or driving change.

Countless frameworks—psychometric, biopsychosocial, psychographic, neurolinguistic—offer different ways to classify human behavior. Though they may seem confusing at first, each has merit when you’re designing communication or marketing strategies aimed at influencing behavior.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll examine variations of these models. By the end of this series, our goal is to distill them into practical tools you can use to build detailed personas within your strategic communications plan.

But do people want to change?

As the proverb says, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” You might reach your target audience with your message, but if they aren’t inclined to change, the effort can stall. That’s why we urge you to develop rich, integrated personas for your audience. With those personas in hand, you can craft arguments and triggers tailored to persuade them or prompt genuine personal or social behavioral change.

Value the change you pursue

Everyone’s value map is different. To spark real change, you must understand the value systems people operate by, rather than assume they match your own. Values drive beliefs, and together, those beliefs shape behavior.

Whether you aim for individual transformation or broader social impact, you need to address a person’s—or group’s—core values and beliefs. Because those are fundamental to identity, you must proceed thoughtfully. Over time, by grasping someone’s worldview, their internal “maps” of reality, and the language patterns that underlie limiting beliefs, you can learn to skillfully guide social and behavioral change in ways that resonate with their value systems.