See If You Saw This One Coming...

Okay. You are on a diet and you are at a restaurant for dinner (Yes, that already seems like a paradox, I know). When getting recommendations on what you should eat for dinner, whose food choice are you more likely to accept-one from an obese server or a thin server?

According to ScienceDirect, a study of the University of Columbia conducted such a study. The results? 59% accepted the recommendation from the obese server while only 36% accepted the food choice of the thin server. Why? According to Brent McFerran, one of the researchers, the dieter could more readily identify with the obese server.

I wanted to be surprised by their findings, but it's the same thing we find so often when working with the performers in our circus. We tend to more quickly trust people who we sense have the same values, beliefs and circumstances we are facing. It doesn't mean we should wear our values, beliefs and struggles on our sleeves, but the findings do reinforce that we need to find common ground with others-especially if we want them to accept an idea, feedback or other information from us.