Meeting planners have a reputation for being control freaks who rarely waver on their decisions.
That’s because the role of meeting planner doesn’t lend much room for indecisiveness, flakiness or disorganization. But what if being indecisive or changing your mind wasn’t necessarily a bad thing?
NPR’s Planet Money podcast, “On Second Thought,” explores the benefits of changing your mind. The podcast’s first interview with an economist highlights a study conducted by Katherine Baicker who initially believed that those who are uninsured went to the emergency room more because, under federal law, an emergency room has to treat you regardless of whether or not you have insurance. What she found in her research, however, is that people who were given insurance actually ended up going to the emergency room 40 percent more often than those who weren’t given insurance. This happened because people with insurance were more likely to seek regular medical care.
Another interview with Kal Turnbell explores his group on Reddit called Change My View, where 300,000 members post a statement such as “Alexander Hamilton is the villain of the musical, ‘Hamilton’” that they believe to be true. That viewpoint can then be debunked by other members. The group’s entire purpose is to show that if you want to change people’s minds, it’s not enough to know what they believe, but why they believe it. The group is so unique that it has been the subject of several academic studies to see exactly how people change their points of view.
The last interview with novelist Cory Doctorow discusses how he went from believing that copyright law was good for society to now thinking it’s bad for society. All three interviews highlight different ways that people change their minds and how it can be healthy for society. Meeting planners can listen to the podcast here to learn more about the benefits of changing your own mind—as well as that of your attendees.
