Getting Ideas Adopted is Hard — Keep These 3 Things in Mind
Do you think you have a good idea but you weren’t sure how to go about getting it adopted? Or did you already try getting your idea adopted but it seemed like no one wanted to give it a chance?
Getting ideas adopted isn’t easy. But it may become easier if you keep these 3 things in mind.
- People don’t like change
- People don’t like being told what to do
- First impressions matter
People don’t like change
For the most part, humans don’t like change. It moves their cheese. It ruffles their feathers. People are comfortable with what they already know and don’t want to spend time and energy to learn something new. So there’s few things you have to do to address this.
First off, make it very clear what change is going to happen. Change is scary because of the unknown so if you’re being ambiguous about what’s coming, it will probably illicit more resistance.
Also, the bigger the change is the more reluctant people are to adopt it. Try to plan your ideas so changes are rolled out in little teeny, tiny changes and make it as easy as possible for people to transition. Find ways to make it so that the idea smoothly integrates into their existing workflow.
You also might want to point out how your ideas will make their life easier. People may not like change but I personally don’t know anyone that has declined and said “No, thanks. Please don’t make my life or job easier.”
If you’re lucky, there are going to be people who are immediately onboard with your ideas. Those are the people that say “You had me at hello”. They get you. Cater to your early adopters and have them help with testing and evangelizing your idea.
The first follower transforms a lone nut into a leader.
-Derek Sivers
People don’t like being told what to do
No one likes being told what to do. For example, tell someone to “calm down” and what happens? The exact opposite.
Do you know what most people do like? Most people like being asked for their opinion. To take if further, most people even like being asked for help.
Being asked for their opinion makes people feel like they have a voice in the the changes being made. Being asked for help makes them feel like they had a hand in making the idea happen. It feels good to be asked and given choices and it feels good to help and be part of something.
While we’re at it, asking for opinions is a good way refine your ideas and have people help you make a change they want to adopt.
The second follower is a turning point: Now it’s not a lone nut and it’s not two nuts. Three is a crowd and a crowd is “news”.
First Impressions Matter
What’s worse than making a change to the way you’re used to doing things?
When the change (you took the time and energy to try) is riddled with flaws that make it hard to use in practice — it makes your life harder with none of the benefits!
First impressions matter. Bad first impressions are really hard to recover from. It’s a really good way to bring down your street cred. The chances of people coming back to try it again (even after you fix things) are zero to none.
So before you do a mass roll out of your idea, you want might want to dogfood (beta test) it yourself and work out all the obvious kinks. You can also dogfood it with your early adopters because if they were already in love with your ideas with little persuasion, they will be more forgiving with the flaws as well.
Once you’ve smoothed out the process, you’re ready to get momentum and start a movement.
Everyone needs to see the followers, because new followers emulate followers — not the leader.
Had you tried to get an idea adopted before? Feel free to leave a comment about your experience or share any tips you might have!
