Patrick Mosher describes how a casual conversation about cognitive dissonance with a PhD student years ago led them to write a dissertation on enterprise resilience and build a "Titanic Diagnostic" app that assesses organizational risk. He argues that 100 meaningful dialogues create lasting impact.
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This past week, I received a LinkedIn message requesting a connection. I get a lot of those, but this person sent me an accompanying message explaining why he wanted to connect. Dear Patrick Mosher, hope you are well. I'm a PhD student and fondly recall meeting with you during your visit on campus a few years ago. I would love to remain connected. I remember having a brilliant conversation with you when I was in a dilemma and you introduced me to the concept of cognitive dissonance. I have benefited from knowing that. Thank you. Well, how does a single LinkedIn connection like that lift my heart and soul? Well, when I go back to my alma mater, Purdue, I schedule as many conversations with students as I can. I figure if I say something wise, maybe it'll lodge somewhere in their psyche or soul and a small change happens. And one small change, maybe their life trajectory changes by one degree. And I believe a one-degree change in your trajectory puts you in a different universe in 20 years. I have faith these little conversations matter. Hundreds of conversations and hundreds of trajectories change. And then one person responds 2 years later with, "I fondly recall meeting with you." That's enough to fuel 1,000 more conversations. Well, I asked the fellow if he's writing a dissertation, and he said, "Yes, I defend my thesis next week." So I asked him about his thesis topic, and his response was, "It's all about building enterprise resilience so organizations can thrive and fight stall. I'm proposing tools to employ for stronger risk management and systematic growth. And that's another invaluable piece from you right there. Hmm. Don't you want this brilliant young professional to help you and your organization thrive and fight stall with world-class tools to promote Systematic growth. Oh yeah, I'm loving this LinkedIn conversation even more. And as we're trading texts, I'm thinking to myself, this is getting downright uncanny because just last week I launched my Titanic Diagnostic app in the Apple Store. And it's a tool I built to help people assess their organizations, projects, or companies on 10 factors that created the disaster of the Titanic sinking in 1912. Because we learn from history, right? Well, the app is out there to help executives and entrepreneurs like you miss the iceberg so you can cruise toward your destination in world-class style. It is a risk management tool for organizations. So get this, here's his summary of his dissertation. An important aspect of risk management is knowing how the risk factors link to one another. He then sent me the link to his dissertation survey. So here's the thing. 2 years ago, I had a 20-minute conversation with a bright young student. One conversation of thousands. 2 years later, here he is. He has the courage to reach out and thank me and request to stay connected. Brings tears to my eyes to know I had a significant impact. And he in turn has had a significant impact on my life and my trajectory. Our stories continue to intertwine. This is the interconnectedness of life, and this is my challenge for you: engage in 100 conversations. Believe you're having a significant impact, and maybe, just maybe, one of those people will come back in a couple years and you'll discover you changed their life. And they will change yours. This is stewardship at its finest, and this is how you alter the course of human history. This is Wisdom for Humanity.
