Peter Nicholas seeks to understand why it's always about the nail...
For many years I believed that logic would always win the day - that pure intellectual grunt could solve any problem. Problems were there to be tackled, wrestled with and solved.
How wrong I was: some problems are best not solved with logic, IQ alone won't prevail.
This is best demonstrated by this YouTube video "It's not about the nail". Click the link now and watch it- -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4EDhdAHrOg
One of three things has just occurred:
1. You've clicked the link and you understand,
2. You didn't click the link because you've seen it before and you understand, or
3. You haven't clicked the link and you're none the wiser
From a logical perspective I can't understand why you wouldn't click the link.
Emotion, however, trumps logic: maybe you just didn't feel like clicking the link? Perhaps I just hadn't engaged you sufficiently, intrigued you enough, emotionally motivated you to click the link? There was no cost to you in clicking the link: you were familiar with the process, it was simple to do and you had the capability to do it.
As the father of two teenage daughters I now completely accept that logic is no match for emotion. Knowing this, it would be illogical to simply continue in the belief that rational argument will prevail. As frustrating as this can be at times, acceptance makes for a far more harmonious and progressive home environment.
So when it comes to pension communication, why is so much of it just about the nail? Compliance-driven, fact and feature-based with little regard for the emotions of the member.
It's like trying to sell a car using the maintenance and repair manual. In this enlightened age where behavioural psychology and behavioural finance are terms that pepper board room conversations, why are the principles so often lacking in pension fund communications?
For me it's all about understanding. Many years ago my father gave me some very wise words – "seek first to understand, then seek to be understood". (I now know he borrowed them from Stephen Covey).
Even though we can see the pension nail, and know exactly what needs to be done, this is of no consequence until the member is readied to listen.
(This week I've discovered there is something more powerful than emotion, inertia! This was evidenced by my daughter, motionless on the sofa in a post-GCSE trance. Maybe, if she can just reach her mobile phone, I can create an emotion through Snapchat.)
Peter Nicholas, Managing Director/CEO, AHC
