It takes two

So I got hired for Vector Marketing for 15 hours a week for $8 an hour (see also workforstudents). They are the company that sells the sweet cutlery products of Cutco. In ANY event, I am still looking for more work (possibly the Springfield Township Library!), but in my first week working for Vector, I have learned a bit about American Business.

I got a packet- like a script I should say when I call unsuspecting people to work for us. In addition, I got tips to create a sense of urgency (more than "call us in the next ten minutes", but similar). Apparently, and I believe it, if you feel like this is a limited offer, in need of "act now!", you will be more likely to come in for an interview. And if they are signed up for an interview the day that I call them, they are more likely to SHOW UP to the interview... hence my need to create urgency. In any event, my reflections started when I read the words on our "Fundamentals" sheet: Believing that creating urgency is normal, not manipulative.

Which brings me to "what is manipulative." I'm thinking, though this is probably too simplistic, deliberately acting in some specific way with the intention of creating a specific desired reaction from an audience. How does that sound? Dictionary.com says "1. to manage or influence skillfully, esp. in an unfair manner: to manipulate people's feelings." I guess it is the "unfair" in there that makes it very different.

So regardless of how manipulative or not creating urgency is, I think it is incredible how people's actions (reactions), behaviors, decisions, moods, etc., are really just in response to other people's word choice (actions, behaviors, decisions, moods, etc.). I mean, think about this. One day this week, we have two kids calling people who had been accepted to work for Vector, but for some reason missed the training session(s). Basically they are trying to get these people to sign up for training again. We are tallying the numbers these two callers are rescheduling. By the end of the day, one had 22 and the other around 10.

Now, granted, these numbers need to be taken with a grain of salt (how did that expression start?) because this is only one day's worth of data for you, but consider this: there is no real reason why one caller's numbers should have been double the other callers'. They are essentially calling from the same pool of people who missed their training. Therefore, the difference comes from their approach. Maybe one is more calm, maybe one is more enticing, maybe one is more personable, maybe one is more creepy, maybe one is more urgent... and the list can go on. In any event, the people who are rescheduling with one caller are reacting differently than those rescheduling with the other caller for some other reason than because they want the job. Otherwise, why wouldn't their numbers be more similar (unless it is just perchance that one called a lot more people who were "currently seeking employment," as we say in the biz).

So I'm gonna start thinking about how many actions, decisions, behaviors... I do every day that are merely reactions from my environment. How many decisions do I make daily that are my own? How many can I say I decided on because that is how I truly felt and that is what I truly want. And not because someone else influenced me with their calmness, enticements, impressionability, etc...

I think you should do the same.

And I think you will be surprised to learn that the answer is not many. If I learned anything from studying anthropology, I learned that we as individuals are pretty meaningless. It takes at least two, my friend, it is true. Almost everything we do is because of someone else. Think about that.