Armchair Discussion, September 17th, 2020

Topic: Building Value In Ideas

This is a bit of a continuation on a few previous topics I have discussed in an Armchair Philosophy, though I'm not sure if it qualifies for the same branding. Let me know if you think this should maintain the "Philosophy" branding. Anyhow, this channel was founded on the discussion of the economic value of human interaction. For today's discussion, I would like to focus on how you build value in your ideas when communicating with another person. When you have ideas, you may immediately be able to recognize their value, but it may take some work to express them to others in order to get them to see the value in your idea. So why should you put in effort to make others recognize the value in the ideas you innately understand the value of and what are some methods to go about this.

First thing's first, building value in your ideas with other people actually gives your idea more value, even to you. Your idea may have an innate value where you find it interesting, educational, motivational, or guiding. By building value for the idea in others, it creates a need for others to come to you to expound on the idea. When one person wants something they already have, the value is personal and intrinsic, but when more people want it, it gains economic value. This can serve to validate the idea, refine it, and even build an actual marketplace income off of it, trading your ideas for literal currency, such as through podcasting and the such. Additionally, it builds value for you in the sense of the world around you approaching the ideal of the idea that you have discovered. If your idea becomes a culturally relevant idea, then you will naturally feel more comfortable within your cultural group. There is a level of societal cohesion that it builds for you on a distinct, personal level. By nature of this social cohesion, it should improve your cultural/intellectual environment around you, improving your life, even if just a little. This is why cliques form within society, especially noticeable in microcosms of society, such as grade school.

So your ideas can help you to build your own community and even a possible real income. This is great for you. But how do you do it? Well, with 28 subscribers, I may not be the immediate genius in doing this on a grand scale the way some larger communities have, but I can share some ideas for personal interactions.

1) Building interest in you. Directly referencing our last Armchair Philosophy, you can negotiate your way into people's hearts. By utilizing methods that allow others to come to the same realizations as you, or setting them up to ask you for the answer that you already have can be a great way to spread your ideas. In this sense, your idea is not just your idea, but others will believe it to be their idea, or an idea that they were actively seeking.

2) The big ask. Another negotiation tactic, the big ask has someone present an offer that is so vastly one sided, that the middle ground solution compromised between the involved parties ends up being roughly the exact position that the person making the big ask was really seeking. Instead of presenting your idea as is, you can present a ridiculous extreme version of you idea. You and the person you are will can almost mock the idea of such an extreme claim, but by doing so, you immediately create a comparison that makes you original idea seem much more tolerable and realistic by comparison.

3) Play coy. As a naturally shy person, I find this technique to be one that I rely on often in my sales for my day job. Peoples natural ability to empathize with others (not a fully universal trait, but common enough) will often make them feel a desire to help others through their shyness. When it is obvious that you want to do something and that is recognized, but you are having trouble getting it out, many people will become more attentive and even try to help you get the words out while seriously considering what you are saying, because the difficulty in your expression of it will cause the other person to perceive value just in the effort you are willing to put forth to express the ideas. This really only works with people perceptive enough to empathize like this though, so I wouldn't recommend it as a first choice, but it is a tool to keep in your utility belt.

4) Genuine Inquiry into the other person's ideas. People innately have a belief in reciprocity for any trade of value. If you give someone else your attention and allow them to express something to you, they will often feel indebted to return the favor. A poor lampooning of this method is often shown in TV shows when children pretend to act very nice to their parents and their parents turn to them and say, "What do you want?" Because the child clearly is not genuine in their inquiry, the parents immediately pick-up on the fact that the children simply want something. As someone with an idea that you want to share, it is important that you are genuine so that the person you are interacting with will want to reciprocate without feeling like they are purposefully being buttered up to be manipulated. A genuine conversation is not a manipulation, and that is the heart and soul of this method.

5) Do something for someone else. This is a bit of a continuation of the last one, and also comes from my experience in sales. I often like to stop to discuss my products with potential clients, and specifically the staff of potential business clients. By learning about the other company's staff and their needs, I can create a path to success. In a recent example, I spoke to a staff member of a local pizza shop about their family's history with cancer. It was an emotional conversation, and I was able to introduce my sale, the idea in this example, by listening and then "offering" to go speak to her boss so I could get her access to my company's Cancer Insurance plan. I had a conversation about something important to her that I knew related to my sale, and in doing so was able to create her buy-in by presenting my sale as a favor I would do for her by enabling her to have access to it. I am both presenting my "idea" as a solution to her problem and promising to remove an obstacle in her path to get my "idea" for her, her boss. The idea is the solution for the problem in this scenario, but you aren't just giving it to the person you are interacting with. You are presenting it in a way where it seems like there is an obstacle in the path of realizing the idea, and then you remove the obstacle for the other person.

So what do you all think? Do you use any of these techniques for getting people to see value in your ideas? I find that creating an emotional buy in before people hear an idea is the best way to create value in your idea from the word go for someone else. What techniques do you use to build value in your ideas? I really think my 5th answer is the best and my favorite to use, because it leaves the other person immediately knowing how the idea is most valuable to them and can leave you feeling like you really helped someone who needed the help, but none of these are 100% of the time viable options, so it is important to remember that these are, individually, all just different techniques in the persuasion utility belt.

Let me know your thoughts below and what ideas and techniques you have for building value in your ideas. I'll see you there!

-James