The Catalyst: How to Change Anyone’s Mind | Jonah Berger

"I am grateful to be one of the many who have learned from this master teacher."
--Jim Collins, author Good to Great, coauthor Built to Last

"An essential read for anyone in the business of change."
--Daniel Pink, author of To Sell Is Human

New York Times and Wall Street Journal Bestseller

Editor's Select from Audible

Named one of Fortune's Top New Books to Read

From the author of Contagious and Invisible Influence comes a revolutionary approach to changing anyone's mind.

Everyone has something they want to change. Marketers want to change their customers' minds and leaders want to change organizations. Start-ups want to change industries and nonprofits want to change the world. But change is hard. Often, we persuade and pressure and push, but nothing moves. Could there be a better way?

This book takes a different approach. Successful change agents know it's not about pushing harder, or providing more information, it's about being a catalyst. Catalysts remove roadblocks and reduce the barriers to change. Instead of asking, "How could I change someone's mind?" they ask a different question: "Why haven't they changed already? What's stopping them?"

The Catalyst identifies the key barriers to change and how to mitigate them. You'll learn how catalysts change minds in the toughest of situations: how hostage negotiators get people to come out with their hands up and how marketers get new products to catch on, how leaders transform organizational culture and how activists ignite social movements, how substance abuse counselors get addicts to realize they have a problem, and how political canvassers change deeply rooted political beliefs.

This book is designed for anyone who wants to catalyze change. It provides a powerful way of thinking and a range of techniques that can lead to extraordinary results. Whether you're trying to change one person, transform an organization, or shift the way an entire industry does business, this book will teach you how to become a catalyst.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A Most Anticipated Book of 2020, Goodreads

"The Catalyst will teach you how to change anything."
--Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit

"A fascinating read and a powerful toolkit to help us change minds, organizations, and hopefully even the world."
--Arianna Huffington, founder and CEO, Thrive Global

"All communicators can benefit from this compelling wisdom."
--Robert Cialdini, author of Pre-suasion

"An essential read for anyone in the business of change. Added bonus: It's the rare business book that reads like a page-turner."

--Daniel Pink, author of To Sell Is Human

About the Author

Jonah Berger is a Marketing Professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, an internationally bestselling author, and a world-renowned expert on change, influence, word of mouth, natural language processing, consumer behavior, and how products, ideas, and behaviors catch on. He has published over50 articles in top‐tier academic journals, teaches Wharton's most popular online course, and popular accounts of his work often appear in places like The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Harvard Business Review. Over a million copies of his books, Contagious, Invisible Influence, and The Catalyst: How to Change Anyone's Mind are in print in over 35 countries around the world. Berger often keynotes major conferences and events like SXSW and Cannes Lions, advises various early stage companies, and consults for organizations like Apple, Google, Nike, Amazon, GE, 3M, and The Gates Foundation.