CIO: How can CIOs respond to unrealistic expectations?

The most important levers are, again, representational redescriptions and resistances, and let me add a third one, "real world". First is just trying lots and lots of ways to say your message. Give your message in more than one way, arranging things so the [listener] has a different experience. That's what having a drink after work with someone is about. A few times in my life, I engineered to get a seat on a plane next to somebody I wanted to convince about something, because it's a different setting when the usual assumptions and resistances may be idling.

Never assume just because people seem convinced that the battle is totally won. You have to think about it as a military or political campaign; it's a long process, not a single battle.

You've got to be on your toes all the time to buoy your particular representation of things and undermine the others' versions of things. That's where real world comes in. Take advantage of real-world events; use newspaper clippings, studies, testimonials - any examples of companies that did something and it didn't work and why.

Most important, even if you've convinced someone of your case, one of the things we know from cognitive science is that there's always backsliding. You have to reinforce your message in as many different ways over as long a period of time as possible.

CIO: Does your framework for changing minds work in every instance?

Sometimes you're not going to change people's minds. Then you have to make a choice. There are four things you can do: quit; do what you're told; do guerrilla work, which is where you nod your head but then do what you want to do; or you can change the entity, work to change the organization into one that fits your goal.

Fundamentalism is a kind of a decision to not change your mind about something. We tend to think of fundamentalism in religious terms, but many of us are fundamentalists (for example, in our assumptions about work or family) because it's worked pretty well for us.

One thing to consider is what you're a fundamentalist about. Are you open to changing your own mind? I wouldn't have any faith in a leader who said that he should never change his mind. On the other hand, I think there are some basic values where people ought to be very judicious about changing their minds.

SIDEBAR: Seven Ways to Effect Change

Looking to influence a CEO or colleague? Put these mind-changing tools in your arsenal

It's very difficult to change the minds of adults on any issue of significance, says author and Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner. But the highest probability of a lasting change of opinion comes when the first six "levers" below are in concert, and the seventh factor, resistances, is low.

1. REASON The rational approach, involving identifying relevant factors and weighing them. This lever is especially important among those who deem themselves to be educated.

2. RESEARCH Complementing the use of rational argument is the collection of data, which is used to test trends or assertions.

3. RESONANCE Whereas reason and research appeal to the cognitive mind, resonance refers to emotions. An opinion or idea resonates when it just "feels right" to a person.

4. REPRESENTATIONAL REDESCRIPTIONS The repetition of a point of view in many different forms - linguistic, numerical or graphic - to reinforce the message is one of the most important levers for changing people's minds, Gardner says.

5. RESOURCES AND REWARDS Money and other resources can be applied directly (as a bonus, for example) or indirectly (as a donation to a charity as long as the philanthropist's wishes are adopted). Unless resources and rewards work together with other mind-changing levers, however, a new course of thought is unlikely to last when the money runs out.

6. REAL-WORLD EVENTS The use of news stories and events to bolster one's perspective can be effective in changing minds. Some real-world events, such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks, can affect so many people so deeply that they cause a mass change of mind.

7. RESISTANCES Barriers to changing one's mind are created by age (as people get older, their neural pathways are less susceptible to alteration), the emotion that a topic creates and the public stand one has previously taken on a topic.