Today, I discovered a way to improve how I communicate proposals to others.
Normally, I might say “we should build a lot more housing in this city.”
This meets lots of resistance, in ways that lead to circular and confusing arguments on both sides.
Now, I use something like ”Would you support creating a commission that would plan and permit building a lot more housing, while also making sure there’s still lots of space for parks, small businesses, and good transit options? The aim would be to bring down rents and the cost of home ownership, reduce homelessness, and keep the city vibrant.”
I think the key here is highlighting that this would be a thoughtful and deliberate process, one that takes multiple goals into account and looks for smart development options.
People want to feel like the projects affecting them come from a process they can see and trust. It’s also a softer way of putting it.
This might be effective for other issues as well.
“We should study how to cure aging” could be presented as “would you support funding research into the fundamental causes of aging, and potentially how to slow that process down?”
“We should get rid of the Foreign Dredge Act and do a lot more dredging in American ports” could be “Would you support changing the law to make it easier to maintain our ports, as long as the EPA reviewed these projects so that environmental damage was kept to a minimum?”
Today, I discovered a way to improve how I communicate proposals to others.
Normally, I might say “we should build a lot more housing in this city.”
This meets lots of resistance, in ways that lead to circular and confusing arguments on both sides.
Now, I use something like ”Would you support creating a commission that would plan and permit building a lot more housing, while also making sure there’s still lots of space for parks, small businesses, and good transit options? The aim would be to bring down rents and the cost of home ownership, reduce homelessness, and keep the city vibrant.”
I think the key here is highlighting that this would be a thoughtful and deliberate process, one that takes multiple goals into account and looks for smart development options. People want to feel like the projects affecting them come from a process they can see and trust. It’s also a softer way of putting it.
This might be effective for other issues as well.
“We should study how to cure aging” could be presented as “would you support funding research into the fundamental causes of aging, and potentially how to slow that process down?”
“We should get rid of the Foreign Dredge Act and do a lot more dredging in American ports” could be “Would you support changing the law to make it easier to maintain our ports, as long as the EPA reviewed these projects so that environmental damage was kept to a minimum?”