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The term Reality Distortion Field (RDF) refers to somebody’s ability to distort reality around them and impact those who come in contact with them.  According to Wikipedia’s entry about RDF, in 1981 Bud Tribble at Apple Computer borrowed the term from a Star Trek episode to describe Apple co-founder Steve Jobs’ charisma and ability to impact those working on the Macintosh project.

Today we are talking about how some people are able to distort the way people think about a certain thing and we offer our tips on how to think about whether or not you are going to accept somebody else’s reality.  

We draw some comparisons between Steve Jobs and Donald Trump as far as ability to influence others through their own sense of reality. We believe that some similar traits exists between them and we’ll sort out the factors that we think people need to create RDF.  We divided those traits into internal and external categories and discuss our thoughts on what they mean:

Internal

  • Conviction
  • Vision
  • Clarity

External

  • Passion
  • Confidence
  • Authority

We all have the ability to influence others.  Steve Jobs was perhaps the Michael Jordan of influencing people in the corporate world by taking it to a higher level.

Being influenced by, or buying into, somebody’s reality may not always be a good thing and today’s tips center around ways to cautiously approach a Reality Distortion Field.

Today’s Tips:

Hiten: When you’re in a conversation and find yourself getting excited about what you’re hearing, ask yourself if it’s changed your mind about something.  If so, there’s likely an RDF going on and you should step back and be aware of it.  

Steli: If you find that you have changed your mind about something you’re hearing, don’t snap into action immediately.  Hold back that excitement, sleep on it and see if you feel the same way the next day.  If you take action on it immediately, it will be more difficult to get out of the RDF.  

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