I’m going to lean on some of my peers for this one, I’m going to stand on their shoulders and try to get this increasingly grubby subject clean. Cleaner, at least. My two heroes for this are firstly Henry Marsh, the world-renowned neurosurgeon, and Martin Luther King Jr. for the other. Ok, I only ever worked with one of them, but…
This is not a manual on how to do dentistry well. It is more of a philosophical piece on the specific role we all have as a clinician and what it takes to be that person. Dentistry for most of us is a business. On one hand we have the need to advertise, promote and sell. On the other, we have…
This is a follow-up blog about learning. Following on from our last post, like a superset in the gym! One of the compelling, enchanting and awe-inspiring aspects of human behaviour is the concept of total mastery. Total mastery is achieved when a person has enthusiastically pursued something they are outstandingly good at with clear goals, industriousness and a sure direction for…
This blog is about learning. Much learning comes from books. There are so many great books to read and so many interesting topics to discover, that there simply isn’t enough time to absorb it all. As such, when someone is voracious for knowledge, they must make choices in what they learn, and then strive to absorb that learning as quickly as…
What is pre-suasion? Pre-suasion is a term coined by the author Robert Cialdini and refers to the process of making a recipient more receptive to your message before you actually deliver that message. How can this relate to dentistry? In dentistry we can leverage the patient’s predisposal to think of themselves as a diligent person, who sees themselves as proactive, preferring…
Imagine that tomorrow there is a global referendum and you are the subject. Tomorrow morning everyone in the world will cast a vote on whether you are a ‘reliable person’ or an ‘unreliable person’. Which result would you prefer? ‘Reliable’, obviously. You want everyone you interact with – your family, your patients, your bank, your regulators – to consider you reliable….
Do you want more people to like you…or would you prefer to be less liked? Are you someone who finds it easy to make other people like you? Are you actually even remotely likeable? I mean really likeable, not just liked by your mum and three ‘fwends’ you chat with on Facebook. Likeability is a little bit more abstract than the…
When we meet another human being, we make judgements about them. We may not want to, but we do. Your conscious brain works slowly, thinking methodically, and we may foolishly think our conscious brain is the boss. Not so! Your subconscious works a billion times faster, and we make all sorts of instant decisions, inferences and judgements on every situation we…
As we move on through this blog series on persuasion psychology it will become increasingly important to reiterate a few fundamentals. Always act in the patient’s best interests. Be honest with them and do not try to coerce or manipulate them. We can use persuasive psychology to help make and keep them happy and healthy. Nothing else. I have to make…
In rule 1 (‘social proof`) we established that the eons of struggling to survive against predation, starvation and extinction meant that natural selection was a harsh and tight filter. The genes that made it through included methods for humans to instinctively work together, influence each other, behave with solidarity to one another and gave a psychosocial framework, previously unknown to us,…
What makes someone think that the pinnacle of contribution they can make to the world, at any particular moment, is to offer up a picture of their face? I’m not trying to be mean; this is meant as a parody introduction – and I have to write this so the following hurty words don’t earn me the label ‘bad man’. With…
As the year starts, look in the mirror and ask yourself this question: “If this year was the last year of my life, would I be doing what I am about to do?” The question is a reminder of the value of your time, the value of your attention, the value of your presence. It’s a question to help you realise…
