How do you know what you know? Some things we learn through books or courses. Others, we must suss out ourselves — often, by interviewing people.
But that can be a toss-up. For one thing, they might not be willing to share. But they might also not be clear on the ideas themselves, or be able to put them into words. Fortunately, we can develop a skill that helps: elicitation.
In episode 27 of the Traction Heroes podcast, Harry brought a reading from John Nolan’s book Confidential. It’s all about elicitation, and has its roots in a surprising field. Here’s part of the reading to give you a taste:
If we stop to think about it, almost everyone has a need to get information in today’s world. Often, that information is in the hands and minds of people who, for a variety of reasons, aren’t always the most cooperative. Sometimes, the people with the information are what the psychological and psychiatric community referred to as “resistant patients.” The more, resistant the client or patient, and therefore, the less effective the intervention, the greater the chance that the response will be defensive, misleading, and untruthful. If we’re limited to one or two sets of skills, our chances of collecting the information decreases significantly.
The most common styles of obtaining information are interrogation and interviewing. Both styles are question-based. The less elegant the question, the greater degree of suspicion, uncooperativeness, and downright dismissal. These are separate and distinct from elicitation.
So what is elicitation? Tune in to our conversation find out. (And while you’re listening, please leave a rating and/or review — it helps other folks find the show.)