Book Review: Influencer, the power to change anything

It is a common experience: “if only I had more influence, I could have prevented/changed/enabled…”  Anyone with positive intentions for change likely felt this way one time or another.

With many books on individual influence or courage, Influencer, The Power to Change Anything by Kerry Patterson stands out for one simple reason: it focuses on having lasting influence, even on large populations, while having a simple framework. I have seen it work for individuals. I have seen organizations benefit broadly from its language and approach.

The framework introduces concepts and language such as “Positive Deviance”, where something is already working to study and learn from it,”Vital Behaviors” that make the difference, and the “Crucial Moment” to pay attention to for everything to come together.  These concepts are explained in detail through the power of real change stories, which are interesting on their own right.

For me, audio edition worked well. I had learned previously my crucial moment for reading business books was picking the right time and place as evenings after a long day at work did not leave much concentration once personal and late night emails were done.  By switching to the audio format during my morning walk, I paid more attention, and I could still pause and take digital notes on the most important points.

Cheers…