This exact situation also presents itself quite often in the commercial world, where senior executives and their advisors devise seemingly excellent business strategies and embark on great new projects all of which are viewed to be greatly beneficial to the business and its employees. Yet, getting everyone excited and passionate about it and for its implementation to build momentum, is a different story, and can come at a significant cost – both in time and money. For instance, it has been estimated that the cost to US business of failing or abandoned projects runs into hundreds of billions of dollars annually. It is not that much different among companies across the rest of the world, Australia and New Zealand included.
The question remains: What is it that causes people to decide for or against a new strategy or initiative?
The human element
Wanting to affect change or introducing a new strategy or project, some argue that providing information to the recipients charged to implement it, should be sufficient for getting them to embrace it. Unfortunately, human nature is not that simple. Apart from raising people’s awareness of an issue or a new undertaking, providing more information is unlikely to have a significant and lasting impact on their behaviour.
Over the past decade, I have had the privilege of working extensively in this domain and have witnessed many instances where people seemed to have taken on board a new venture put across to them by senior management, yet it did not cause them to change their underlying beliefs and attitudes towards it. Not surprisingly, this severly impacts the seamless implementation of that initiative and the likelihood of people returning to their previous behaviour over time.
Backed by extensive research and years’ review of adoption literature, people’s internal adoption decision drivers are the proverbial ‘make or break’ of any new initiative. What many still fail to realise is that the design of a new strategy or project, despite its perceived greatness, is potentially only as effective as the people charged with implementing it. For some of us this may come as old hat, however, having assessed various situations where the uptake and implementation of a seemingly ‘great’ strategy or initiative proved excessively cumbersome, disregard for the human behaviour element very often can be found at the heart of the issue.
Identifying how people make real-life decisions, and what factors influence those decisions have far-reaching implications for business executives and policy makers alike. Having an understanding of the human behaviour element when confronted with a new experience or undertaking and the variables that influence decision-making is critical for ensuring the seamless introduction and effective implementation thereof. It enables the identification of the potential strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and allows for their inclusion during the project planning stage. Being cognizant of the factors that drive people’s decision-making, prior to implementing a new undertaking and planning accordingly, can bring about significant savings. Failing to do so, often comes as a costly exercise, both in terms of time lost and money wasted.
What drives people’s decision to embrace or reject a new initiative?
It has been argued that decision-making has two stages: eliminating options containing aspects that the person does not want, followed by a second stage where potential alternatives are passed through a set of criteria.
Going through this ‘filtering’ process, people’s decision to embrace or reject a new initiative has been found to be guided by a set of internal adoption decision drivers and their perception of the external environment in which an initiative is to be implemented.
From an internal perspective, people who are able to embrace the new and make the most of it tend to be:
- resourceful in finding their ways around obstacles;
- optimistic, yet realistic;
- adventurous, walking the path less taken;
- energetic;
- flexible;
- resilient;
- confident in their ability to handle the situation; and
- tolerant for ambiguity.
Any change to life as we know it, comes as a disruption to the routine. Everyone needs some time to assimiliate the experience and evaluate it in terms of what it is they want and they do not want. Internally, people typically progress through a series of stages very similar to the Kubler-Ross grief model: the initial reaction is one of denial of what is happening, followed by becoming upset with the situation and trying to negotiate a compromise, before eventually coming to accept the situation. The pace by which people progress through these stages is essentially driven by who they are as a person and their predisposition for dealing with the new and the uncertain. Thus the higher a person performs on the above qualities (within reason of course), the better the chance of moving through the adoption decision process more quickly and effectively.
In addition, research suggests a significant correlation to exist between people’s perception of a new undertaking in terms of their immediate external environment, and their decision to take the proverbial plunge. For instance, people’s unawareness or denial of an issue and a general unpreparedness to take responsibility for addressing it, are often central to the poor uptake of new policies and procedures. Equally, questioning the relative advantage of a new initiative in terms of its observable impact, its perceived complexity and compatibility in the workplace, and the degree to which it enables initial experimentation on a limited basis prior to its complete implementation, all play a significant role in the adoption decision.
Practical application
Much can indeed be done to successfully account for the human behavioural element during the beginning stage of the implementation of a new initiative. Awareness of the potential strengths and pitfalls prior to embarking on a new strategy, project or undertaking, is critical for ensuring its seamless introduction and cost-effective implementation. This requires organisations and their project teams to have clear answers to the following questions:
- What are the internal adoption decision drivers of people who will be potentially impacted by this initiative?
- What are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats we have to be aware of from a human behaviour perspective, and how can we use these to be effective in driving this initiative?
- What is the likelihood of conflict between people’s current knowledge and new knowledge required by this initiative?
- How would people perceive this initiative in terms of its relative advantage for them and the business?
- How compatible is this initiative with the current way people are working?
- How complex is this initiative for people to get a grasp of what is expected?
- How do we capture people’s hearts and their minds to make this work?
The Adoption Readiness Matrix
In answering these questions, we have developed a simple, yet comprehensive, easily customised measuring tool to fit commercially and non-commercially driven organisations. Dubbed the Adoption Readiness Matrix (ARM), this tool has been developed over a period of 10+ years of extensive research on organisations and their people’s uptake of new strategies, projects and initiatives from a human behavioural perspective.
Drawing on the Diffusion of Innovation, Stages of Grief, Ethnographic Decision Tree Modelling, and Adult Learning Theory, ARM provides valuable information on the potential strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of any new undertaking from a human behavioural viewpoint.
Focusing on the essential stages and attributes of the adoption decision process, ARM enables organisations and their project teams to (1) pinpoint the internal drivers of people’s decision-making processes, (2) get an understanding of their views on their immediate working environment and its compatibility to accommodate a proposed initiative or project, and (3) assess the time required for the uptake of a new undertaking.
Results stemming from the tool are especially powerful during the planning stages of a new strategy, project or initiative, and continues to provide useful information to ensure its sustained implementation.
Readers wanting further information on ARM and our approach to ensure the seamless and cost-effective implementation of a new initiative, can contact us at: info@rothassociates.com.au Alternatively, you can contact me on: +61 (0)410 043 877
Until next time!
HEIN ROTH
Director
ROTH ASSOCIATES
www.rothassociates.com.au
No comments:
Post a Comment