Conserve Your Credibility by Checking for Rickety Reasoning
“How can we open closed minds—people who do not want to listen to any arguments or logic?” This question came into my in-box at askdianna@booher.com from one of our readers in Pakistan. This week I’m sharing Tip #26 (only two more to go) on how to get through to people difficult to reason with.
Make sure your own reasoning follows logic, and then check for errors in the other person’s logic. Here are the most common reasoning faults:
Force-fitting an analogy
Someone uses an analogy to explain how two things are alike—and then they get carried away. "A maintenance agreement on your copier is like an insurance policy on your automobile." Yes, there are similarities that would help someone understand the idea of a prepaid maintenance agreement, but it doesn’t follow that the two arrangements are alike in all ways. Insisting that they are to make a point is faulty reasoning.
Generalizing from a single case
The sales manager in Tupelo feels uninformed by headquarters about the introduction of new products and ad campaigns; therefore, the manager reasons that all sales managers feel uninformed on important new developments.
Focusing on all or nothing
This reasoning insists on considering all ideas as a package deal. We have to accept all of it or none of it. This product will meet all our needs or none of our needs. We have to reward everyone for perfect attendance or no one for perfect attendance.
Stating rather than proving
"That manager has been delinquent in dealing with safety issues." Where’s the proof? What specific incidents have gone unresolved? "Ferdinand has no ambition to move up in the company." What specifics support this conclusion? Calling a process "primitive" or equipment "state-of-the-art" doesn’t make it so.
Confusing sequence with cause and effect
A demanding controller joins the company August 1 as head of Max’s department. Max resigns on August 31; therefore, Max left because he had difficulty working with the new controller. As in this case, chronology may have little or nothing to do with result.
Check for these gaps in logic before someone points them out to you in front of a group and douses your credibility.
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