Article: Winning Cooperation with the Magic Question "Why?"

BY MARGARET E. ANDERSON,

We all need things from others— goods, services, information, and most of all, cooperation. If other people don’t offer what we need willingly, if we aren’t positioned to demand it, or if, in the interest of future good will, we’d rather not resort to demands, we try to persuade them.

Some professionals face special challenges in this arena. Auditors; information and physical security per¬sonnel; environmental, health, and safety specialists; and others who must persuade people to comply and play by the rules don’t just use persuasion occasionally to support their primary work. Rather, persuasion is part and parcel of their primary work. They may need to persuade anyone from a part-time high-schooler to a C-level executive.

All these IT compliance professionals face similar challenges and can use similar tools to improve results. Let’s look at how just one of these tools, the magic question “Why?” wins cooperation, as we track its use through an example.

Ask Yourself “Why?”

Cody works in Information Security for a company that makes software for facilitating sports performance visualization. Cody’s boss tells her that Mickey, who manages a team of Customer Tech Support workers, plans to install a remote access protocol system so his workers can see and remotely control clients’ computers. The boss assigns Cody to review this system for security, privacy, or similar issues. But when she calls Mickey to set up a meeting, he doesn’t welcome Cody or her review; he’s in a hurry to get his new system up and running.

One of Cody’s special challenges is that she isn’t Mickey’s superior, or even a member of his department. This prevents her from inspiring the cooperation she might if she formed part of Mickey’s day-to-day working life. On the contrary, Mickey resents “an outsider” looking over his shoulder, telling him what he can or can’t do with “his” team and “his” budget. Cody may have the clout of company policy behind her, but brandishing that over Mickey would only make him resent Cody, and her review, even more.

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