Here is another quote I like, from a great book titled Persuasion Mastery: 500 Lessons.

The Zen of Objectivity

There is a story of a westerner who came seeking enlightenment from a Zen master. The Zen master offered to pour tea, and the visitor accepted. The Zen master peacefully filled the man’s cup, and continued pouring as the tea overflowed onto the table. The visitor said, “Stop, you can’t pour any more tea can go into that cup!” to which the Zen master replied, “And so it is with the mind. For when it is full, nothing more can go into it.” And so it is with objectivity, for a salesperson who subscribes to stereotypes cannot know his prospect. If you’d like to know more, please visit me on my mountain in Tibet. On second thought, just read on.

Biases and prejudices are like rust. They accumulate so gradually, that we may not even realize they’re there, at least not until we have a personal or professional judgment go awry because of one. Our news outlets, television, and movies appeal to our biases, or help to cultivate them. And our  minds play tricks upon us based on how we create statistical errors. For example, the more extreme situations we hear about seem to be more commonplace than they really are. The more unfamiliar a person is, the more we tend to judge other similar people by our experience with that person. That’s why a few bad experiences with salespeople so strongly color the attitude people have toward salespeople in general.

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