Chapter Seven. It’s All About People

Throughout the change process, yes, every step of the way, you’re going to be interacting with people, and that means communication. People want to know what’s in it for them. The pattern Personal Touch(198) will help you interact with individuals. The pattern Tailor Made(234) targets organizations. You will also need the pattern Shoulder to Cry On(213) since your interactions can be hard at times!

Linda directs a recorder consort. The recorder is the precursor of the modern-day flute, but that has nothing to do with the success of this group of five people. They have been making music together for over seven years, and they’re still going and still friends. Linda feels that things work well for them because early on she sensed that each member of the consort had different expectations. None of this was explicit, but here’s how she followed up on her intuition.

Karen is the virtuoso of the group. She studied flute and easily picked up the recorder. She likes challenge and has the best tone of all the players. Linda always tries to give Karen the more difficult parts and feature her if a solo is required. Rick can sing and prefers the guitar, but he also plays recorder. He likes “jamming” and has an excellent ear. He’s not as interested in difficult recorder parts and, in fact, often resists if the piece is too much for him. Karen, on the other hand, relishes tackling parts like that!

Anne and Karl are pretty good. They like a certain amount of challenge, but not too much. They are both fair musicians. They can both sing and Anne can play keyboard. They’re flexible and don’t mind playing supporting roles for Karen’s solos. They’re solid. Linda is bossy! She likes to organize and plan and also likes the recorder, keyboard, and singing. She has found a group of people who, within limits, allow her to lead and work well together. She uses a personal touch to make sure each player gets as much satisfaction from the group as possible. Her reward is the incredible sound the group makes, which gets better and better over time.

When you use the pattern Personal Touch(198), you help each individual understand how the innovation can be useful in his own environment to solve his problems. As consultants, we use this pattern to first understand where the frustrations lie and then find ways to help ease those frustrations. When first encountering any innovation, people tend to think about what it can do for them. In one company, someone said that she would adopt the new approach if it would “help me do my work faster, cheaper, easier because that is something that will be of value to me.”

We have both served on program committees for conferences where our job was to encourage quality submissions. To do this, we personally contacted key individuals to ask them what they wanted to accomplish, for example, write a book or paper, form a user group, bring in potential graduate students, or expand their research network. We would work with them to show how the conference could help achieve their goals.

Part of the message in this pattern is that it’s important to listen to what individuals are saying when they hear about your new idea. It takes effort, but you can get better over time at hearing and understanding what people need. Ask questions if they seem reluctant. They won’t become supporters unless they understand how your proposal can be useful to them in solving their personal struggles.

What’s in it for the Organization?

The pattern Tailor Made(234) addresses the same concern as Personal Touch but at a different level. Your message is more powerful when it has meaning for those who want to see how the innovation can meet the business needs of the organization. Lee Iacocca reflected, “It’s important to talk to people in their own language. If you do it well, they’ll say, ‘God, he said exactly what I was thinking.’ And when they begin to respect you, they’ll follow you to the death. The reason they’re following you is not because you’re providing some mysterious leadership. It’s because you’re following them.”

It’s important to select the right information and develop an effective format for a specific audience. You’re not just a mover of data. Instead, you should mold the message in your preparation and in your delivery. You must target each audience carefully to persuade listeners.

The following is one of Stephen Covey’s memorable stories in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:

“To make an effective presentation, you’ve got to empathize with the listener. You’ve got to get into his frame of mind. You’ve got to make your point simply and visually and describe what he is in favor of better than he can himself.” After hearing this, one change agent started by saying, “Let me see if I understand what your objectives and your concerns are about this presentation and my recommendation.” He did it slowly, gradually, demonstrating his depth of understanding and respect for their point of view. In the middle of his presentation, one senior manager turned to another, nodded, turned back to the presenter and said, “You’ve got your money.”^[*]

When Linda started talking about a new idea in her organization, she knew that her managers and executives would ask about the stance of the parent company, since her organization was a subsidiary of a large, powerful corporation. She did her homework and found that her idea was already being used in several areas of the parent company’s product development. She featured this information in her initial presentation and could sense that it had considerable impact on the support she received.

Of course, we would argue that you need both the Personal Touch and the Tailor Made patterns. They work together. As you focus on larger issues, for example, improved performance of your team or increased profit for the company, remember how important it is to consider the personal needs of individuals.

Each of us has come to a crossroad—one path leading to what’s best for the company and another separate path leading to what’s best for us. Someone once said, “All interest is self-interest.” That’s not a bad thing. Effective change agents know how to bring both interests together to work toward meaningful change at all levels.

You Have Feelings, Too!

Even with all the patterns we have been describing, your journey is not going to be an easy one. You will have successes, but you will also have difficult times. It’s always easier to face struggles if you can find others who are trying to do the same thing in their organizations. We offer the pattern Shoulder to Cry On(213) because we believe in what baseball Hall of Famer Satchel Paige asserted, “Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way.”

Sometimes “another way” can’t be discovered on your own. You may find that other like-minded individuals can help, not only to listen but also to help thrash out possible solutions to your problems.

Linda founded her own local support group. It was comprised of others throughout Phoenix who were interested in her new idea. Some of them were trying to introduce the idea to their organizations, but others were just Innovators who wanted to learn more. They met once a month and Linda looked forward to reporting in and sharing stories of successes and setbacks. She also used an online listserve to reach similar kinds of folks. The wonderful thing about an online group is that someone is always there regardless of the time of day you decide to log in!

Mary Lynn learned the power of the patterns introduced in this chapter when she joined a research unit of a large telecommunications company for seven months. She was hired to build a knowledge management database of patterns that would capture the organization’s best practices in software development. To really make the patterns repository work, though, she knew that she had to make patterns a part of how developers did their work and, to do that, she had to convince them that patterns would help them do their jobs better.

I was already enthusiastic about patterns and had lots of friends in the patterns community who had experience bringing patterns into their organizations. I relied on them and actively sought their advice and counsel as I started to work in my organization. I wasn’t always sure whether I was doing the right thing. If it hadn’t been for an electronic discussion list, I would have had a harder time. The people on that patterns listserve were supportive and helpful. They always had good suggestions and provided an ear when I needed it.

As I targeted the guys in the trenches, that is, everyone and anyone who would listen, I tried to frame my pitch to match their struggles. This wasn’t always easy, since I was the “new kid on the block.” I took every opportunity to chat with people during lunch or breaks. I also attended as many project meetings as possible to hear what was going on inside the development teams. This allowed me to talk about how patterns could be useful to the individuals, the teams, and to the organization.

Even with the powerful patterns in this chapter—Personal Touch(198), Tailor Made(234) and Shoulder to Cry On(213)—you won’t get far as a volunteer. To have real impact, the change effort must become part of your job. We’ll explore how you can make that happen and how you begin to take on that role as we introduce the patterns in the next chapter.