Chapter Four. What Do I Do Next?
You’re off and running. You’re becoming known in your own small circle as an Evangelist for your new idea. You have confidence that it’s worth your time and energy to go forward because you’ve been using that package of patterns we described in the previous chapter. In this chapter, you will spark some influential support for the new idea with Connector(119), Guru on Your Side(158), and Innovator(170). You will recognize the power of Ask for Help(104) and Just Say Thanks(183).
We hope you have been especially faithful in applying the pattern Small Successes(216), because if your goal is to see real change across a larger organization rather than only your own team or staff, you must be prepared for setbacks. Focusing on the good things that will likely come your way will help you weather the storms.
Linda was attending a conference recently, listening to a very compelling speaker talk about his discouraging experiences trying to introduce agile software development practices into his organization. He all but described himself as a Don Quixote, doing battle against the fierce “old-style-process” windmills. She thought that at any moment he was going to break into song, “To dream, the impossible dream…,” but instead he seemed to be saying that his effort was wasted, that people didn’t appreciate what he clearly pointed out to them as “The Way” to solve their problems. Only he, in his infinite wisdom, could see the path clearly.
Yes, it’s easy to get carried away. Yes, you know that to introduce a new approach you have to be enthusiastic and apply all the sales techniques you can muster. Yes, there will be dark days; two steps forward and one step back. But playing the lone hero is not the way to win friends and influence people.
It was all Linda could do to stay in her seat and not jump up to say, “Did you ask anyone for help?” The presentation used up the question period, so she resolved to talk to him later. The answer she received was the expected one. No, he had not asked for help. In fact, he had not even thought of asking for help. He believed that the responsibility for the success or failure of getting his venture going was solely his.
It’s surprising how many change agents make the mistake of trying to go it alone. Somehow, it adds to the challenge, but it’s not the strategy that leads to the successful introduction of new ideas. The pattern Ask for Help(104) outlines the reasons for this. The risk with introducing anything is that you can get caught up in the passion you feel for your vision and pretty soon others see this as “all about you.” Right from the beginning, enlist others to help you avoid this trap. You may have to hand over some credit for the idea in order to get it going. If you truly believe that adoption of the new approach is the right thing to do, this should be a step you are willing to take.
Many people who are enthusiastic about the introduction of new ideas have no intention of being the final owner of the implementation in their companies. On their list, right near the top, is to find someone who will ultimately be responsible for it and will be the official owner, perhaps the Dedicated Champion, the one whose job it is to make it happen. The Evangelist is only the messenger. For these people, asking for help is a matter of course. They hit the ground running, reaching out for assistance from others.
A critical component of this pattern is ownership. How many meetings have you attended where a proposal was made and the rest of the time was spent hashing and rehashing the details, recasting elements to essentially produce the same thing? “Why,” you may wonder, “do we have to reword and restate and argue over things that really don’t matter? The end result is pretty much the same as it was when we started.” The answer is—ownership. People resist change because of many reasons, but one powerful way to overcome their resistance is ownership. When people feel that they have contributed to the implementation, even in a small way, they have “marked” the new thing so it’s theirs. They want to have input. Instead of having new stuff forced down their throats, they want a say in what happens and, especially, how it happens to them.
Mary Lynn has seen this many times: Even when her colleagues agree with a suggestion, they can be extremely critical of it if they are not given a role in deciding when and how it will become part of their everyday work. Over the years, she has watched many administrators arrive believing that their role is to make decisions and begin to implement those decisions alone. However, they soon suffer at the hands of all those who were never given an opportunity to provide input and help. Take the time to ask for help so that others won’t see the idea as “all about you,” and they’ll be able to take ownership for part of the effort. Every person you bring in will help you understand the idea, how it can be improved, and what other techniques you might apply to get the innovation going in your environment. The pool of ideas for making yours a success story will improve with every new person you bring in. Such a deal!
Donald Keough, former president of Coca-Cola, was interviewed in the movie The Journey. He observed, “What separates those who achieve and those who do not is in direct proportion to their ability to ask for help. If you shut off honest communication—I want to know what you know; I didn’t understand that; Will you help? —you’ll have an empty tank at the end of the day.”
Anne Lamott in her book Bird by Bird advises:
There are an enormous number of people out there with valuable information to share with you, and all you have to do is pick up the phone. They love it when you do, just as you love it when people ask if they can pick your brain about something you happen to know a great deal about—or, as in my case, have a number of impassioned opinions on.[*]
The movie The Journey also features John Popper, the lead singer of Blues Traveler, who said, “If you actually ask for help out loud, it comes.” Using the pattern Ask for Help not only brings others on board to take some of the work off your shoulders, but it allows others around you to shine. Use their skills and energy and give them full credit for their contributions.
To bring in help, talk to everyone you know, even if you’re an independent, self-reliant individual. The task of introducing a new idea depends on your enlisting the support of as many people as possible. Tom Kelley, general manager of Ideo Product Development, states:
The social ecology at many American companies says that when you’re stuck, you’re supposed to go back to your desk and think harder, because you are hired for your skills. At Ideo, the culture is exactly the opposite. You have a social obligation to get help.[**]
Target Groups to Ask for Help
Chapter 1 described some of the special people you might target: Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen. The Connector(119) pattern describes those people who are valuable assets because they know “everybody” (well, at least they know a lot of people!). They are members of several diverse groups and, as a result, can spread the word about anything very quickly. In most organizations, secretaries, especially those who have been with the company a long time, are valuable people to get on board. They are the ones who make things happen and they know the people and the people who know the people. Be very happy to have them on your side.
We realize that we are both Connectors. Connectors are people who know and talk with many different people on a regular basis. So when someone tells us something interesting, it isn’t long before we have shared the news with many others. When Mary Lynn had a party recently, approximately 25 people showed up. Most of them were her regular friends who she socializes with in separate groups. At one point, she looked around the room and thought, “My, what a diverse group of people. They would probably not have the opportunity to know each other if it weren’t for me.”
Another small group or, in some organizations, a single person, is described in the pattern Guru on Your Side(158). One of the fundamental influence principles is respect for authority. In times of uncertainty, we rely on trusted experts to help us decide among difficult alternatives. Once you have a guru on your side, many who might have been skeptics up to that point will at least show interest in the approach and will be more open to what you have to say.
Linda likes to call the guru “Fred.” When Fred is on your side, others will listen. Here’s how you can approach him. “Fred, I’ve just read an article about <Big Idea> and I know you have probably heard about it. What do you think? How would this work for us? I’ve been thinking I might have an information meeting to tell the team about it. Would you be willing to show up and add your input? Here are a couple of things I think would be good to share….” Always have a short, two-minute “elevator speech” in your back pocket for those times when you happen to run into a guru. Keep it low key. Be prepared to ask questions, and don’t threaten him by overwhelming him with information. Keep your approach humble. Never make him (we keep saying “him,” but of course the guru could be a “her”) feel that you are trying to take over in some way. Power is always an issue! Your goal is to win Fred’s support. In some organizations what Fred says can make or break you. If he shows up at your meeting and nods a couple of times, you’re set.
Another important group to target for help is described in the pattern Innovator(170). The pattern tells us that a small percentage of the population likes new ideas and, therefore, is likely to take up the cause and eagerly do what they can to help you. Geoffrey Moore, author of Crossing the Chasm, observed that “Enthusiasts are like kindling: They start a fire.” He describes the role played by Innovators in the introduction of Post-it notes. The inventor gave early prototypes of the sticky notes to the secretaries. Some of the secretaries tried them out to see how they could work and became enthusiasts. They were key in keeping the idea alive during the early use of Post-it notes.
It’s Important to Say “Thanks!”
Never forget the help you get from Connectors, Gurus, Innovators, or anyone else who joins your team. The pattern Just Say Thanks(183) is unbelievably critical. We never forget how important this is. When we lead project retrospectives for organizations, we use “Offer Appreciations,” one of the exercises from Norm Kerth’s excellent book, Project Retrospectives. In the exercise, team members simply say to each other, “<Name of appreciated person>, I know you’ve spent the last three months working overtime and weekends to get this product out the door. I just want to say thanks for that. I appreciate your hard work.” Then someone else will offer an appreciation. It gets going. It has a life of its own. It’s wonderful to be in the middle of that. You don’t need to wait until the end of a long delivery schedule; you can do it every day, and the difference it will make in your lives is hard to explain to anyone who hasn’t seen it. It costs so little and the return is so great. Just say thanks!
Since we wrote this pattern, we’ve been making a real effort to thank people for everything and anything, and we’ve noticed something interesting—it’s fun to thank people when they don’t expect it. When people do something they consider quite ordinary or part of their job and you take time to thank them, they seem quite pleased. You’ll find that you really enjoy that.
Here’s a story about these patterns from one Evangelist:
I was just like you. I was so excited by my new idea that I told everybody. I mean everybody. I believed that all I had to do was tell the reasonable folks who worked with me why my idea was a good one and they would just sign up. That’s honestly what I believed. Well, I’ve learned along the way that it’s not so easy. I got discouraged, but I kept on talking. Not just about my idea, but also about why I couldn’t get others to see the benefits. I was following the “three-foot rule,” you know, telling everyone within three feet of me about what I was trying to do! As we were gathering for a department meeting, I happened to sit next to one of the administrative assistants. She said, “Why don’t you go see Greg or Paul? They’ve been with the company forever.” Sure enough, I stopped by Greg’s cubicle and he gave me a few minutes. He said, “Come to our team meeting and I’ll introduce you.” After that meeting I felt like Alice in Wonderland. Someone had opened a magic door and bingo! All of a sudden, people were asking about my new idea. They wanted me to come to their team meetings and then one department manager suggested I give a talk to his staff. Now that I know these patterns I can see that I was using Ask for Help, Connector, Guru on Your Side, and Innovator. And I always thanked everyone along the way. Powerful stuff, patterns!
The patterns we outlined in this chapter, Ask for Help(104), Connector(119), Guru on Your Side(158), Innovator(170), and Just Say Thanks(183), will not require a lot of effort on your part, but they will get you off to a good start. In the next chapter you’ll find other patterns that require a little more time, but which will pay off handsomely as you continue your journey.