Mentalist DaiGo and Fund Manager Haruhiro Fusa Discuss "The Psychology of Consulting" (Part 2)

Mentalist DaiGo is a psychology professional. Utilizing cutting-edge psychology, he is active across a wide range of fields, from business to entertainment. On the other hand, Hiroji Fusa is a fund manager active in the global financial world. While studying at Oxford University in the UK, he had the rare experience of boarding at the home of Aung San Suu Kyi, who was residing in Oxford at the time. He later succeeded in numerous large-scale investment projects as an investment banker, a star position in finance. He has now reunited with Aung San Suu Kyi, handling consulting and investment for Myanmar's growth. In this Design Talk, Tetsuji Nose of Dentsu Business Creation Center, who knows both men, serves as the interviewer for the second part of their discussion on "The Psychology of Consulting."

 

The Psychological Battle in M&A

DaiGo: M&A is fundamentally a psychological battle, right? Oxford has this technique called "bluffing," doesn't it?

Fusa: More than Oxford, it's British wisdom and technique. British people often pretend to know the answer even when asked a question they don't truly understand. Also, when answering would put them in an unfavorable position, they skillfully deflect the question. British people are good at talking and good at negotiating.

DaiGo: "Bluffing" is all about deception, right? When I play Go Fish on TV, I'll instantly look at my opponent and declare, "Given your personality, the joker definitely isn't in the middle or on either end." Then I observe their reaction. That's "bluffing."

If I'm right on the money, they'll think, "He read me!" and get tense. I gauge their reaction to my assertion to read and probe their psychology. Mentalists often use this technique called a "push statement." It's similar to the psychological warfare in M&A, right?

Fusa: In M&A negotiations, I considered myself fairly good at reading the other side's bluffs, and I actually did read them. But when I first met DaiGo, I realized he was on a completely different level, and I was no match for him at all.

DaiGo wrote something on a napkin and placed it in front of me. He said, "Please choose five colors in sequence from these six." So I selected five colors. When DaiGo unfolded the napkin afterward, the exact order I had chosen was written there. That's when I knew competing with DaiGo was impossible.

DaiGo: Sorry... (laughs)

Fusa: Ultimately, with DaiGo, he's guiding you. If I started to deviate from the order he predicted, he'd make me rethink and choose a different color. I was being made to act exactly as he intended.

DaiGo: Everyone thinks they make all their decisions based on their own will, but that's not actually the case. In reality, we're heavily influenced by our surroundings and the reactions of those around us.

There's an interesting experiment about price determination. In an experiment where people set the price for a vase, they play a game beforehand. Group A plays a game where only numbers from 1 to 1000 appear, while Group B plays a game where only numbers from 1000 to 2000 appear. After the game, when asked to set a price, Group A set prices below 1000 yen, while Group B set prices above 1000 yen. They were influenced by numbers from a game completely unrelated to pricing. However, they weren't aware they were being influenced. This is the "priming effect."

There's also a field of study focused on reading others' emotions. Facial expression physics interprets emotions based on the combinations of facial muscles. The most obvious indicator is the orbicularis oris muscle around the mouth: a relaxed, slightly open mouth signals "YES," while a tightly pursed mouth signals "NO."

Advertising professionals, when presenting, it's wise to observe your audience's mouths. If you see a NO sign, skip that part. Focus your explanation on areas showing YES signs, and you'll deliver presentations or negotiations that truly resonate.

Nose: So how does one master this skill? Only the other person knows if your reading is accurate, right?

DaiGo: Practice and improve your accuracy rate.

Nose: So I should ask people around me to be my practice partners.

DaiGo: Paul Ekman, the psychologist who provides facial expression analysis programs to places like the CIA, offers one on his website. Using something like that for practice might be a good idea.

Also, the game "Werewolf" is recommended. You have to lie yourself and spot others' lies, and you can check the answers at the end, so I think it's good practice.

 

What's needed to boost initiative?

DaiGo: When Mr. Fusa or I think "This will work!", we just try it out, right? The reality is, many people are too scared to even take that first "just try it" step. So, how do you find the courage? What I learn from watching Mr. Fusa is that even if someone says "That's a bit much," he doesn't get discouraged at all. He doesn't get hung up on it, thinking "Oh well, there'll be another chance." He's really agile, isn't he?

Some of you might have noticed, but I'm an otaku. I loved my home and was someone who couldn't take action. At one point, I looked up online what kind of things increase a person's drive to act—because I'm an otaku (laughs).

DaiGo: One thing I actually did was exercise. Exercise makes your brain grow, no matter your age. Plus, regular exercise turns off negative genes, gradually making you more positive.

Another is the "power pose" proposed by Harvard University Associate Professor Amy Cuddy. Simply holding a good posture for two minutes—standing tall with your back straight and chest out—makes people feel more courageous and able to take risks. To gauge its effectiveness, experiments in gambling-like games show that while people normally take risks about 8% of the time, doing a power pose for two minutes increases that to 33%. It's a very simple method, so if you want to build courage during psychological battles, try exercising or doing a power pose.

Nose: Now that you mention it, DaiGo-san, you suddenly started going to RIZAP one day and began exercising stoically, right? Did you notice any significant changes in how your brain works or your way of thinking before and after you started exercising?

DaiGo: My speed for generating ideas increased dramatically. I'll outline a book or brainstorm business ideas just 30 minutes after exercising. Things that used to take me about two weeks now take only about three hours. It's really strange, but since I started exercising, I've also been able to come up with all sorts of interesting ideas.

I created an ad for men targeting a matchmaking service called With. It was based on "reading your personality." We showed them three photos of women each and asked them to guess which one was their type. But the punchline was: "Did you notice there was a photo of a gorilla mixed in with the women's photos?"

The message was: "What women seek is the ability to notice small changes." The ad offered hints on how to become more observant. It was a relatively long-form ad, but it achieved ten times the conversion rate of a standard ad.

This leverages a phenomenon called "selective attention," where focusing people on specific points—in this case, the women in the photos—makes them blind to other elements. Psychology can lead to some fascinating applications.

Fusa: That's right. In M&A, you're dealing with the CEO. Many are impatient, so their attention span is only about two minutes. So, in a 30-minute meeting, you need to clearly address something they're interested in within the first two minutes. This makes them want to hear more. At that moment, if you have a surprising piece of information, like DaiGo's "gorilla example," you can grab their attention.

DaiGo: John Caples wrote in his book The Copybook that "words that capture the human heart have five elements: new information, something beneficial, writing that sparks curiosity, ease, and credibility." If you can pack these elements into those first two minutes, it's bound to work well.

Nose: Both Mr. Fusa and DaiGo have such broad expertise and diverse knowledge. I found much that will be useful for our communication business. Thank you very much for today.

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You can also read the interview here on AdTie!
Planning & Production: Dentsu Live Inc. Creative Unit 2nd Creative Room, Aki Kanahara