cf.Objective() Session - Selling Professional Development in a Hostile Shop by Terrence Ryan

Terrence Ryan discusses how to handle bringing new ideas into a shop that isn't open to them. In many organizations you encounter significant resistance to bringing in object-oriented development practices, frameworks or new technologies like Flex. Rather than quit, he recommends some strategies to change the organization because generally this is legitimate resistance and not hostility. As he emphasizes as well, "it is not a technical problem," it's an interpersonal problem.The process begins by identifying the personas involved, match these personas to tactics an apply the tactics in a broad strategy.

The Uninformed
These are the folks who simply don't know because they don't read or keep up with the technology. They can turn into one of the other personas if they aren't handled well.

the Herd
These people are looking for leadership and will do simply what they are told. They do tend to require a good deal of hand-holding.

The Healthy Cynic They haven't tried the technique but they think they know all the problems with your idea. They require proof to be brought on-board.

The Burned
They have experience with you new technique and it burned them, therefore they think they have proof to reject your idea. They are very hard to change over, but you have to prove that the prior experience was flawed.

The Time-Crunched
This is the person who says your idea is great but we don't have the time to implement it or learn new things. They can be converted if you prove that the technique will save time in the long run.

The Boss
Generally they don't resist but they don't care. You must turn your technique into a solution to *their* problems and not your problems.

The Hostile
This group is the irrational of the personas (as opposed to the others which are rational). They will mimic another persona but are aggressively fight any attempts to introduce a new method. The only way to recognize them is that when you use your techniques to convince them they often change persona. They are often driven by internal politics or control issues.

The last group is the converted - those people who you've brought on board.

Techniques

• Focus on yourself and do the techniques for yourself. For example, if your company doesn't use version control, install it for yourself and use it. This can be effective on the uninformed, the herd and the healthy cynic.
• Focus on delivery; be passionate but don't be zealous. Use phrases like "have you tried..." rather than "You should..." If you are overzealous people tend to dig into their position and entrench themselves. This is effective on the uninformed, healthy cynic and the hostile. This technique denies the hostile a platform on which to argue but won't convert them.
• Focus on the problem rather than specific solutions. For instance, focus on the need for an MVC framework rather than a particular framework. This technique is very effective in the burned, who may be burned on a particular solution but not on the idea in general.
• It is important to show rather than tell by offering demonstrations that solve group problems. This technique is effective on almost all types (except the hostile).
• Another technique Terrence offers is to be willing to compromise. This helps remove restrictions and can be very effective on the time-crunched.
• Focus on a synergy between your technique a larger overarching business concern which is very effective in bringing on management.
• Create a solution people really need that relies on your technique which will pressure people to use it. You force them not by mandate but by their desire to overcome an important issue.
• Focus on bridging by creating something enticing that is halfway between where you are and where you want to be to make it easier for people to come across. He used the example of his Squidhead application which was created in part as a reaction to hostility to using a framework. This is effective on the time-crunched and the herd.
• Get publicity for your technique by applying for internal or external awards and other reviews within the company. For instance, "Jim" created an application that management didn't want to use, so Jim open-sourced it and got a worldwide user base and some acclaim which he used to convince management.

All of these techniques are difficult. First, you must ignore the hostile because they are not rational and cannot be convinced. Any time spent on the hostile is wasted time and energy. Target the willing such as the uninformed and the herd which are the easiest to convince. Next focus on the time-crunched, cynical and burned and turn to management last. Harness the converted to steal attention from non-converts and to help get other converts by repeating the story and tie their own successes to your method. This helps to suck attention away from the hostile people. All of these techniques work, Terrence says, but progress is slow and each advancement will often have to repeat the whole process of convincing again. Finally, remember that you may not get to the perfect place in the end, so focus on improvement and not the final result, as he says, "between where you are and where you want to be, there are many better places."