GA 644 | Defining Propaganda with Owen Fitzpatrick

Most leaders assume that the right argument, delivered clearly, will change minds. Owen Fitzpatrick has spent 30 years studying why that assumption is wrong. A psychologist who has worked inside some of the world’s most extreme propaganda environments, from North Korea to Rwanda to his own teenage years, Owen brings a framework to this conversation that reframes how belief actually changes. The implications for anyone trying to lead a continuous improvement effort are hard to ignore.

In this episode you’ll learn:

What the purpose of life being “defeated by greater things” reveals about continuous improvement (3:37)

How a single question changed the trajectory of Owen’s life and work (5:00)

Why the inner critic is the wrong label for what actually holds people back (9:18)

How propaganda works in three parts and why it mirrors what happens inside our own minds (14:35)

Why naive realism is the single biggest obstacle to influencing anyone (22:43)

How recognizing inner propaganda as propaganda changes the way your brain processes it (28:55)

Why logic comes last when beliefs actually change (33:40)

How the three conditions of belief change explain why great arguments still fail (35:12)

“Being right is not enough. Having the facts, having the data, having the information, table stakes, you need to have that. But it’s not enough to be persuasive.” – Owen Fitzpatrick

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