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The good news for consultants, in-house frame orients a reader or listener to
train’ers. and managers is that the management exattline a message with a certain dis-
literature offers an ever-expanding body of theo- position or inclination. Just as fratning
retical models and practical strategies that pro- a picture focuses attention on what is enclosed
vide a solid foundation for designing in-house within that frame, framing a message focuses a
traimng programs and crafting personalized reader’s or listener‘s attention on data and pre-
coaching tips. However. scanning this Lvork re- mises within the frame. The manager selling an
sults in a troubling conclusion. Although most of idea frames the message to focus attention on
the literature underscores the importance of what he believes are thp most pivotal or salient
flzlmirqr: the w,Wu?Me?zt or position one is trying to issues. Frames help decision makers reduce the
sell, I:here is precious little how-to xlvice. complexity of issues and make senSe of their
environments. When they see one problem as and key contextual factors in trying to convey a
more urgent or more costly than another, they persuasive messageunder difficult conditions.
necessarily focus their attention and marshal cor- Cosmos is a major player in the digital communi-
porate resources to reflect that focus. In short, the cation industry. Founded with
frame is neither the specific objective of the mes- the combined genius of an elec-
sage nor the data supporting that objective, but trical engineer and the savvy of (
rather a focus for assessingthe total message. ;I street-wise entrepreneur! Cos-
The use of a frame will vary depending on mos developed an international
the persuader’s specific agenda and forum. A presence in less than five years
frame could be the title of :I speech a CEO hopes from its inception. The founders
will rally the troops. The Cl33 establishesthe big still maintain thy-to-day opera-
picture and the perceptual filter he wants the tional responsibilities and con-
argument as
audience to employ while listening to the mes- tinue to ttlke pride in the the picture of
sage. E3yentitling the speech “My Vision: Your conqx~ny’s growth and t’ntre- a completed
G&r,” he establishes the frame by linking his prcneurial spiril-.
corporate vision with employees’ personal needs. Tanya Edwards has been at puzzle is to the
In a one-on-one negotibq the frame could Cosmos for three years and is in jumbled pieces
1~ stated a number of times,to reinforce both its charge of product development.
impact and the validity of the request. A manager In a weekly staff meeting, one of the puule. ”
trying to negotiate a bigger raise from her boss of her team members convinces
could present ;I frame during the initial stages of her and the other members that C
the “sale” and at those points at which the I-xss his idea lb a breakthrough
seemsresistant. The manager might try to use the hand-held digital communicator
frame of “fairness and justice” to make her cast will %low away the competition” and create: a
and refer to the inequity in her current pay or the huge, long-term revenue stream for the company.
injustice of her less skilled coworkers receiving l’anya agrees to champion the cause md to
higher pay. solicit K&D funding from the three-person execu-
When WC’frame a message,we achieve three tive team that signs off on all product devclop-
interrelated goals. First, we select an evaluative merit reyuc~sts.With help from her team, she sets
theme or perspective believed KI IX the most lit’r goal at obtaining $250,000 Lo develop 3
credible. compelling, and appropriate to our working prototype.
intent. That perspective provides a filter through Tanya knows she faces a tough sell. Until
which we want the other party to assessour po- recently, Cosmos had experienced a meteoric rise
sition and the supporting evidence. Second, we in stock price, salesvolume, and market penetra-
decide on the specific evidence that best sup- tion. blut the last two quarters have sent shock
ports that perspective. Finally, we create a struc- waves through the company. 13ecauseof greater
rure for organizing that evidence. ‘Ibus, the frame competition and new FCC regulations affecting
provides the p’,ersf,ectize we want the other party the product line, its stock has dropped ii per-
to adopt, a rution& for the evidence we present, cent, sales have plateaued, and large customers
and the s~qzlcntial~attern for presenting that are defecting. As a result. the executivt, committee
evidenc~e. has taken a stance of maintenance over growth.
Consider this analogy. Suppose you and a TO make matters worse, the last K&D project
colleague wagered on who could complete the funded by the committee never got off rhe draw-
same jigsaw puzzle first. A third party 111uys two ing hoard and is still referred to at Cosmos as that
copies of the same 350~piece puzzle, dumping ~$5OO,Mosink hole.” In short, the last thing the
the contents (of I>orll boxes on a table in front of committee wants to do is risk capital. Ncverthe-
each of you. Your opponent has accessto the less, out of respect for Tanya they grudgingly
box wirli a picture of the completed puzzle. You agree to give her 20 minutes to makta her I,cst
do r701fWho will win? (Yl,St?.
A frame is to a persuasive argument as the She brings her team together and says, “You
picture of a c,onipleted puzzle is to the jumbled guys have to help me plan my salespitch. We all
pieces of the puzzle. Both show the “big picture” know that they’re geared to say no. We nt:ed a
and provide implicit rules for putting the pieces hook. How can WC:get the executive team to at
together. Without the picture and without the least consider our proposal?” She then Turns to a
frame, chaos prevails over coherence. flip chart and says. “OK. Let’s brainstorm. 1-10~
do we hook ‘em?” I-Ier team rnemhers offer the
AnExampkTheToughSell following hooks:
l $250,000 is an investment, not a cost.
Although hypothetical, the example of Cosmos l $250,000 is only a small percentage of out
Electronics illustrates thl- importance of a frame gross margin.
team. However, not all managers have accessto
Figure 1 brainstorming teams, or the skill to facilitate such
The Four Steps to Framing a Message a session.Moreover, brainstorming depends on
the creative potential and commitment of partici-
1. Determine your pants, which is inherently variable. What follows
specific objective. are four sequential steps for building a frame
, regardless of one’s creative potential or accessto
group brainstorming. These strategies reflect the
2. Conduct a metaphor presented in Figure 1.
4. Write 24simple,
vivid, evaluative
statementlinking
The SWOT analysis
of the other Step 1: Determine your specific objective.
p~rty‘s current
the three sides.
Message status.
This step is reflected at the top of the frame in
Figure 1. What specifically do you want the deci-
sion-maker (person or group) to do? In the ex-
3. I>eterminethe other ample above, the specific objective was to secure
pally’s core valut5. $250,000 in R&D funding from the executive
committee.
There is a fundamental reason why you must
l The last R&D effort ~3s not a sink hole hut begin here when constructing your frame: Al/
a learning curve. subsequent decisiows about your.frame are ma.&
l Our mission and values require R&D. 0~1the basisqf~low spec& o@ectiue. In other
This last statement generates further brain- words. decisions about values, threats, or oppor-
storming related to the corporate culture, history tunities are necessarily driven by what you are
and philosophy of Cosmos. asking the party to do. Tanya Edwards knew she
After 15 minutes of bristling, energetic discus- had a tough sell not only because of Cosmos’s
sion. Tanya says, “That’s it. I’ve got it.” She then declining market position but, more important,
writes the following statement on the flip chart: because of her specific request relative to that
decline.
Our paralysis and fear is our competitors Sometimes the objective (opening’bidiposi-
greatest asset. tion) will be stated in financial terms, as demon-
strated in the example. Other objectives will re-
That hook (,frame) quickly generated a 20-minute flect the specific agenda of the person or group
presentation built around three major points: making the proposal. A manager might try to
1. In our competitive industry, managing for “sell” upper management on implementing
the status quo will guarantee our corporate self- flextime for his staff. Or a marketing manager
destruction. might try to “sell” senior managers on a new
.t. We created this company to bring innova- compensation program for the field salesforce.
tion to the market. Why back off now? Obviously, your objective could change dur-
.3. My team’s proposal for a hand-held digital ing the course of the presentation, depending on
communicator will return us to our glory and the “buyer’s” c’ounter arguments. For many, if not
terrify our competitors. most, in-houscasales calls, the final agreement
!ihe made the pitch and got the funding. often represents a compromise between the par-
‘Tanya’s frame was specifically created for a ties. Nevertheless. without a clear way to mea-
persuasi\re mess:lgeto the senior management sure successor failure, you approach the sale
team. However, it could have been incorporated without a vision, direction, or purpose. Moreover,
into a negotiation session.Tanya might have been without a clear proposal to accept, negotiate, or
asked to sit down with the team to craft a negoti- reject, buyers will feel that their valuable time is
ated compromise, a position falling somewhere being wasted.
between their reluctance to fund any K&D and
hrr attempt to secure $250,000. But again, she 2. Conduct a focused SWOT analysis of the
would have tried to focus the negoliation on thr other party’s current status.
belief that failure to fund her prototype would
put (:osmos at 3 competitive disadvantage. Positioned at the right side of the frame, a SWOT
(Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat)
BUILDING A FRAME analysis is a fundamental tool in corporate strate-
gic planning. Once planners have conducted a