‘People Get More Creative in Hard Times’

University of Texas’ Gaylen Paulson will point out a few silver linings that can work in event organizers’ favor during challenging times in two edUcon PCMA Business School sessions today.

Author: Casey Gale       

man in suit smiling in front of group

The key to persuading others to do things differently during a challenging period, edUcon speaker Gaylen Paulson told Convene, is to be sure to incorporate pain points into the ideas being presented.

Gaylen Paulson understands that planners are working through some issues — like reduced staffing, rising costs, budgetary restrictions, and more — that make their job more challenging right now. But the associate dean and executive director of Texas Executive Education at the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business has some tips to share with them on how they can still achieve their goals through these challenges during his two PCMA Business School sessions at edUcon on Tuesday, June 25: “Influence and Overcoming Resistance to Persuasion: Advocating for Your Ideas” and “Becoming a More Effective Negotiator.”

“We know that people get more creative in hard times,” he told Convene before edUcon. “It’s an opportunity to do things in new ways and find better opportunities. Because when things are going great, I don’t want to listen to your ideas — I don’t want to break anything. When things are tricky, all of a sudden people are more open-minded, and they’re willing to explore.”

The key to persuading others to do things differently during a challenging period, Paulson said, is to be sure to incorporate pain points into the ideas being presented. “If I know that one of the biggest concerns that somebody has is around efficiency, then I can pitch my idea relative to that — like, ‘Hey, this is going to be a path for us to do things at scale. This is going to be something where we’re going to actually realize some savings,’” he said.

Paulson, who also spoke at last year’s edUcon, suggests that negotiation be approached in a similarly cooperative manner. “There’s a misconception that negotiation is purely competitive, and the reality is that we negotiate with our partners,” he said. “If you can be a good collaborator, the tone of the interaction changes.”

While some may come to the negotiation table ready to “play hardball,” he said, many people incorrectly assume “that’s the only way to play.” But at the end of the day, planners should “want to be the person that people are excited to work with,” he said. “I want to be known as somebody who is going to try to do things creatively and who will work through [problems] to find that better solution.”

Casey Gale is managing editor of Convene.

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