Fun makes the stairs more appealing [video] - Holy Kaw!

It should com as no surprise that if you want to get people to embrace change, that injecting a little WiiFM like making it fun will have a positive effect on the unstated change initiative the VW was attempting (they wanted to prove that fun made it worthwhile). Also the fact that they did not tell people that they were trying to alter their behavior increases the (i) perceived input. It was their idea after all to enjoy the musical step.

Re-Blogged from AlltopFun makes the stairs more appealing [video] - Holy Kaw!

poor video from the Technopark presentation

Tried to capture some video of the presentation, but unfortunately the batter on the camera is pure crap. In any case I salvaged some video thanks to Roald who saw the camera stop.

Brown Bag Lunch: Selling Innovation/Change

I made the presentation, but unfortunately my camera has such a disappointing battery that I have not video of the talk. But here is the slide show instead. I post via slideshare.

Since the talking I do is not captured, I have to make sure that I give credit where it is due. Also, for more places to see, things to read, or inspiring voices you can look up:

• Simon Sinek, Start with Why (the what, how, is not original)
• Dan Ariely for the comparative difference thought starter
• mondaydots for first showing comparitive difference to me, and planting ideas for the simplicity of the presentation

Don't Talk with your Mouth full: Technopark Zurich Brownbag lunch presentation

I have been invited to make a presentation at the Zurich Technopark. Apparently the Self-Proclaimed-Die-Expert and Techni-ho is a "world renowned" expert on Technical Evangelism.

I will be presenting on the theme:

Selling innovation/change

Technical Evangelism by the numbers

The basic theme of the presentation will be a return to one of my earlier concepts; and attempt to quantify the amount of resistance that people have to new ideas:

I doubt that any of the 3 people who read this blog will necessarily be in the Zurich Area this week (the presentation is Thursday the 20th of January, 2011 at 12:30). But if I cared whether or not people listened or read what I do, this blog would not exist. 

I will consider posting the entire presentation after the debut on Thursday.

Seth's Blog: The sugar cane machine

A small island grows sugar cane. Many people harvest it, and one guy owns the machine that can process the cane and turn it into juice.

Who wins.....

Seth's Blog: The sugar cane machine

Another simple but worthy parable from Seth. If in a market that has reached a competitive parity, competing on price or efficiency can only get you so far. At some point the differentiation needs to come from something else. Something the other don't have, don't value, and haven't thought of.

Finding that thing for you and your company will never be easy, since after all, if it was easy to recognize somebody would have already started.

Resistance to Change: The empirical formula

The old joke is: 

How is arguing with an engineer like wrestling a pig in mud? 

After a few minutes you realize the pig likes it.

In order to facilitate change (what we consultants; internal or external) all hope to achieve, we must first come to terms with the fact that it is human nature to resist change. If we are selling organizational change (Who Moved My Cheese?), technology change, or process change (The Machine that changed the world) we must overcome the human urge to keep things the same.

A few years ago my good friend Bob Murdy and I first wrote down this formula (or something like it). There are a few key factors we always liked to point out in this equation. First, the benefit to the company or the team or mankind has no place in this equation (directly). Some people could however assess a positive value for gain from helping their fellow man because they "feel good" to help others. That is a selfish motive (just think of all the people in the world who don't appreciate the helping hands we offer them (Aztecs, native Americans, and Australian aborigines come to mind).

Additionally, the pain might be no more than my own guilt that must be assuaged (i feel bad for being a materialistic pig, so I text some money to Haiti and I feel better.

With this equation, we see that it only takes one missing element in this equation to make the whole thing (resistance to change) go to INFINITY. (division of any number by 0 goes to infinity for the non-math types out there).

So why don't people accept change:

• They feel no need to change
• You gave them no personal benefit
• You gave them no choice
• It was not there idea