Summary: "The greater your goals, the more you'll need to change people's hearts, minds, and actions." Enchantment, page xx While some still look for the next best secret to pull heartstrings and earn a quick buck, there are those with daring ideas who know that the cycle of shallow relationships won't cut it. They know that meaningful ideas deserve to endure and flourish. And when you're armed with such ideas, traditional persuasion isn't enough: You must catalyze others to dream right along with you. In his book Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions, author and former chief evangelist for Apple, Guy Kawasaki defines enchantment as "the process of delighting people with a product, service, organization, or idea." But it's ethical, genuine enchantment that tempers cynics, sways hearts, changes minds, and forges an affinity with people that lasts. The art of enchantment isn't limited to just one kind of person or organization, either. Anyone can make enchantment happen anywhere, anytime. Apple uses enchantment to sweep the market with its innovative products. Zappos uses it to reinvent customer relationships. Even a Peace Corps volunteer has used it to disarm a hostile rebel group. Capturing his experiences as both an entrepreneur and venture capitalist, Guy succinctly explains his observations and tactics gained over the years. However, he presents the prerequisites and the reasons why genuine enchantment can't be faked. Golden Egg Why Enchant? "Great products, services, organizations, and ideas are enchanting; crap is not." Enchantment, page xxi So, why enchantment? When does it really count? Obviously, you can't enchant with just anything, but when you do possess an idea that will transform business, rock the status quo, or make the world a better place, than the more relevant enchantment becomes. Guy says that the stakes rise when your idea, product, or service does any of the following: Defies conventionality, conformity, and wisdom of the crowd. Aspires to lofty, idealistic results. Requires making difficult, infrequent decisions to make a switch. Requires some risk to proceed when there's delayed or nonexistent feedback. Change is hard. Guy suggests using empathy to navigate for the missing link between you and the people you wish to enchant. For example, during the 1980's when IBM had dominated the business market, Apple was actually up against the status quo. Guy admits that while Apple deeply believed in the Macintosh's power to boost productivity and creativity in this sector, Apple's actual misstep was failing to understand what their potential customers were thinking or feeling at the time. "...We underestimated the difficulty of altering corporate policies and overcoming the perception that the Macintosh was easy to use but wimpy in terms of raw computational power" (page 3). You may believe deeply in your idea, but what about those on the receiving end? What are their current circumstances? What does it really take for them to shift from one entrenched habit to something radical and different? GEM # 1 Enchantment Depends On Character "Step one is achieving likability, because jerks seldom enchant." Enchantment, page 9 Guy argues that before you enchant, your likability must answer some important questions: Are you someone people would listen to? Are you the kind of company someone would prefer and enjoy? To create and co-create with? He also presents a simple litmus test which can make, or break, your likability: Do you think of people in binary? Do you believe you're superior than someone? Do you accept people's similarities as well as their differences? Do you cut people a break? Everyone is better than someone at something. People are more similar than they are different. We all have strengths and weaknesses. And the "bad qualities" people possess could be rooted in a complex past that's beyond anyone else's understanding.
