Culture Change - harder than you think

Over the past 6 months I have been on a journey to change how my organization and 2 partner organizations work. 400+ people. What is that change? Changing from a project/program orientation to being organized into products (just like many other organizations are considering). One of the questions I get often is, is this just a fad or is this really something that is going to stick?  My answer?  It is all up to the people that are part of the change to ensure it sticks.

Changing a culture of an organization is difficult and while not all culture change initiatives are made of the same size, this one is a big culture change making it even more challenging. There are several factors going against the ability for this change to stay for the long term.  First is the pure size of the organization, second is the change spans 3 separate departments across business and IT and the third is ensuring that not just the organization changes its approach but ensuring the people that are dependent on the organization understand the change and learn the new modes of engagement.

The changes are not done but it is time to document many of the steps taken to accomplish this transformation. My goal is to share as many of the issues and approaches taken over the past 6 months as we prepared and started the transformation.  I will also be sharing many of the things we continue to do and provide updates on the progress, since a culture change like this doesn't just finish in 6 months, but is really a multi-year endeavor. 

Adoption via Peer Pressure?

Green leaves
Photo by Ben Ziegler

How many of us remember high school and doing things that we should never have done, but we did them because our friends were doing them?  How about that time you stayed out later than your parents wanted or you drove the car that you were told not to. Ever do something illegal with your friends?  Did you decide to do it on your own, or was it really peer pressure?  Peer pressure, is basically they way of getting people to try something they would never have thought of doing.

Peer pressure is probably something most people don't view as a good thing. Especially with teenagers. In fact because of the strong negative connotation, most people don't like to use the term, unless it is too prove a point about something not being good. But within the enterprise, peer pressure can be used for good and to be honest, I believe that peer pressure is one of the best methods of getting others to adopt a new technology - just behind defining the value proposition.

In one of my previous posts, I talked about the 1 v 9 rule.  In that post, I provided some of my thoughts on what you could do to drive adoption. I also asked for others to provide their ideas. As I continue to look for new techniques, I will be posting them here. Employee peer pressure is a technique that most definitely should be added to your quiver of tips and tricks. Peer pressure from the #1 must be directed at 2 through 10. While it seems simple, getting others to use this technique is not easy.  But it is important and the best way of getting the #1s to do this is to help them understand the value of using this technique.

The approach is pretty straight forward.  Peer pressure will not be applied just by #1, but rather initially with just one other person on the team. Let's call that person #2.  #2 should be chosen wisely.  The choice should be based on someone that #1 is close with and #2 is someone that is on the fence related to the technology (e.g. they are closer to being on the same side that #1 is on).  #1 needs to work with them to get them off the fence.  #1 needs to get #2 to the point where #2 is as strong of an advocate. #1 should use whatever tricks they can use, including some peer pressure. To do this, #1 needs to get #2 to truly see the value.  And there are many other tricks you can use.

Once #2 is on board, peer pressure to 3 through 10 can start.  #1 and #2 need to use the technology almost to exclusion (especially if there is a technology that is being used that is the incumbent that 3 through 10 use and don't want to give up).  #1 and #2 need to use the technology in their job, as part of their formal and informal business processes.  #1 and #2 can't give up, even if 3 through 10 are resistant in using the new technology.

As they have use the technology, they need to circle back and refine the story/message they use.  and together they need to share this story/message with 3 through 10 often.  This should be done in both formal venues and through informal conversations (think water cooler conversations).  They need to be a mini marketing group. While they work together using the technology, #1 and #2 need to talk about benefits they achieve from the technology and apply peer pressure continuously. Basically they need to be the cheerleaders in their group, talking up the technology and the benefits it provides.

Peer pressure, embrace the power, but use it for good.

What tips and tricks do you have for those that responsible for adoption of technology in a company?

The 1 v. 9 Rule

Gettysburg Battle Field Monument
Photo by Eric Ziegler

Have you ever implemented a technology for an enterprise that had the chicken and egg syndrome?  You know the type.  You implement a valuable technology but no one is using the technology. As you analyze why this might happen, you realize that you need people to use the tool, but the value is not there until you have a large number of people using the tool.  Which should come first?  The people or the tool?  How do you get people to change behavior, adopt a tool, adapt the way they work when you realize that to really have change, you need a large number of people to change almost all at once?

I have seen this situation more than once. You have a small set of people dispersed throughout the enterprise that is interested in the technology. You think you have won the battle because interest is high from these advocates.  But if you peel away the edges, you would see that while they are excited and are some of the biggest advocates for the technology and while they each represent a team that could use the technology to great effectiveness and the technology has potential to realize get value within the team, there is an issue. 

This is a big issue.  The rest of the team is not aware of the value, they don't see the need for the tool and they provide every excuse under the sun for why not to use the tool. I like to call this the 1 vs 9 rule.  You have one person that is ready and eager to adopt, adapt, and use the technology but you have 9 people (2 through 10) that are not.  More often than not, this is one of the biggest reasons a technology like this fails.  It is not about the implementation of the technology, it is about the change management.

As the person in charge of the technology and responsible for enterprise adoption and change management related to the technology, what do you do?  This is not a time to give up and fail.  What techniques could you use to get #2 through #10 to adopt the tool along side of #1.  

Here are some ideas.

1. You are not alone:  Seems simple enough but this is often the first step that people forget.  You need to get the advocates, the 1's, to help in driving the adoption of their team. One team at a time. While you are responsible for change management and adoption, you are not alone.  The #1's need to know what is expected of them and need to know that it will not be easy.  
2. Build a play book: Now that you have set the expectation you need to provide the techniques and tools that the #1s will use to get 2 through 10 engaged. Depending on the technology being implemented, these tips and techniques could include having them set expectations to the team, have them get their own advocates within the team, and have them remind (nag or ankle bite) the team periodically.
3. Lower management:  Work with the first line of management of that team. Get them to understand where the value is and then get them to help drive adoption within the team.  Have them set expectations for their team, but don't let them mandate, that type of technique could backfire.  Do this in conjunction with the advocate of the technology. They can help sell the story.

The hope is that you can do this over and over again with each group until you have critical mass in the enterprise using the technology effectively. Think of the first group as the keystone, that the rest can use as an example or template of how to drive adoption in their teams.

While I write these words into this blog, I know that I have not done justice to all of the ideas others have used to drive adoption of 2 through 10.  What techniques, tricks, and methods do you use to drive this type of adoption?  What has worked for you?

Perceived Value

Image: from Tim Scullin blog

The other day I was in Disney with my family.  It was great fun, we did almost all of our favorite rides, Haunted Mansion, Thunder Mountain, Pirate's of the Carribean.   Unfortunately we missed out on going on Splash Mountain as it barely got to 60 degrees and we were not brave enough to risk getting wet and being cold.

What I found so interesting as we walked around the park is how quickly some of the lines grew (of course spring break has that effect).  The thing that was so interesting was that they were not the rides that I would have chosen - which was great for us. That got me to asking the question, why do some rides have longer lines faster than other lines.  I believe that one of the reasons is that every person places their own value on each ride.  Some people valued the rides like Winnie the Pooh, while others valued Haunted Mansion, some liked Dumbo while others valued Thunder Mountain.  Each person places their own value on each ride and decides which ones they want to ride first, which rides they are most willing to wait in a long line for, and which rides they just won't ride that day.

This got me to thinking about how employees adopt different technologies, tools and techniques based on the value they perceive they will provide.  For example, I can apply this to the work that I am doing related to driving adoption of activity streams (btw, this is just one example of a large variety of technologies).  As I talk with employees about how they might use an activity stream, some say that it seems just like email and they wonder (aloud sometimes) what value the activity stream provides beyond email.   Some employees never see any value in using an activity stream.  Some know that moving away from email is valuable in some situations, but don't know if the activity stream is the best method.  Some believe a RSS feed aggregator or other technologies are better. Others, thankfully, understand the value right away, but when they start to use the new tool, they find that no one else is using it, which diminishes the value for this individual.

So how do you get people to use the new technology, the new tool, or technique?   There are many ways, and you need to use them all.  Going back to Disney, they use many different methods to entice you to ride their rides (and even to come to Disney World). One of their methods is to nudge people to ride the next ride.  Enterprise can use similar techniques to attract employees to use the new "stuff".

When a nudge is provided, typically the goal is to increase the value that the employees sees in the new tool, or technique or technology.  Or said a different way, the employee's perceived value of the tool needs to increase.  Disney World uses many techniques to nudge people to ride each of their rides.  Most Disney World rides use great visual effects on the outside of the ride.   For example, as you walk into the Haunted Mansion, the people are in character, giving you the "eye" and the line leading into the ride has grave stones with funny things written on them and book shelves that have books that move in and out.   They attract you to the ride using over the top decorations such as the carriage with a ghost horse.

Following the Disney World example, enterprises need to use techniques to get employee to change and use the new "stuff".  To drive this the employee perceived value of that tool, technique or technology must increase. If that does not happen, they won't ever use the new "stuff".  Unfortunately, as you have probably guessed, this is the most difficult part of driving adoption of technology, but it is also the most rewarding.