Planting The Nagging Doubt Seed
I once bore witness to a hiring decision. The final two interviewed. The debrief imminent.
I saw what I realised was both a political player and one not averse to deploying the darkest of arts at work.
As meeting attendees gathered, that person was talking with two of the four about to walk in.
'There's something about them, I'm not quite sure what it is'.
He put out there, referring to one of the candidates.
Informal discussion continued.
Then one of the others voiced their sharing of said feeling.
Their combined chat tried to home in on putting a label on this elusive negative.
A couple of options thrown around by others.
'I know what it is'.
Just as they turned to walk into the room for their confidential assessment, the initiator spoke.
'Sex offender'.
The timing as devious as the chirp was shocking.
When the group emerged, guess who hadn't got the job.
The person sparking this off had a clear preferred choice. And in what was a tight call, was going to leave nothing to chance to get it through.
It was quite something to see up close.
I got reminded of this lesson in underhand politicking with reading an electoral campaign analyst 'influencer' describe a 'nagging doubt' gentle counter jibe.
It struck me as a take on classic ꜰᴜᴅ. The F-U-D being from the 'famed' mid- to late-20th C Big Blue trope; fear, uncertainty, doubt.
Encapsulated in their then widely used line; "no-one ever got sacked for buying IBM".
The modern-day deployment appears in putting your conjecture out there in this form;
"It feels like there's something wrong with this, I can't quite put my finger on it..."
Remembering to leave a subtle yet decent pause.
Then if required, adding with what amount to flipped probe-style follow-ups;
"Maybe there's something missing, something not quite adding up, something slightly out of kilter..."
Then sit back and let the responses roll in.
If nothing else, you'll take the temperature of the assembled opinion.
Even if you hear early dominance of 'nothing's missing', you know where those stand.
And that they're not politically attuned to the question too. Equally helpful perhaps.
As a further 'probe' can entail the likes of;
"It's so much easier to pinpoint when something you can see is awry, than say what might be missing..."
In any case, the skill of the originator of this line of reasoning, is in encouraging a discussion that reveals issues. Ones you can use to help shore up votes for your desired outcome.
This is demon-level selling. The type of which where it's not you that says this. But where you can coach your champion in how to do so internally.
Flush out the leanings. Work out the perceived gaps. And ensure your solution fills them.