It’s highly to related to another of my favorite quotes “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” It’s saying that if you want to convince someone of your point of view, you have to do it from their current frame of reference, not yours.
That’s an excellent way to take that quotation, but note that it’s probably actually derived from a famous prayer ascribed to St Francis of Assisi in which it surely isn’t referring to what one should to in order to convince someone else of something.
(The prayer almost certainly has nothing much to do with St Francis, other than maybe being inspired by something written by one of his associates. But that’s not important right now.)
The “Seek First to Understand” quote comes from Stephen Covey (7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Habit 4), who meant it in kind of a hybrid way that has to do with both the “give first” idea of St. Francis as well as the “Changing People’s Minds” idea I mention above.
“The first step in changing someone’s mind is to know where that mind is.”
-William Ury, Getting to Yes With Yourself
I don’t understand this quote. Could someone explain it to me?
It’s highly to related to another of my favorite quotes “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” It’s saying that if you want to convince someone of your point of view, you have to do it from their current frame of reference, not yours.
That’s an excellent way to take that quotation, but note that it’s probably actually derived from a famous prayer ascribed to St Francis of Assisi in which it surely isn’t referring to what one should to in order to convince someone else of something.
(The prayer almost certainly has nothing much to do with St Francis, other than maybe being inspired by something written by one of his associates. But that’s not important right now.)
The “Seek First to Understand” quote comes from Stephen Covey (7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Habit 4), who meant it in kind of a hybrid way that has to do with both the “give first” idea of St. Francis as well as the “Changing People’s Minds” idea I mention above.
retracted