Gentle Pressure, Relentlessly Applied
When steering an organization toward new ways of working, leaders should apply steady, consistent, but gentle persuasion.
When I was in the software process improvement (SPI) business some years ago, a joke circulated through our community:
Q: How many process improvement leaders does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Only one, but the light bulb must be willing to change.
(I’ve heard that therapists have an analogous joke.)
There’s truth in that bit of humor. No one can truly change how someone else thinks, behaves, or works. You can only employ mechanisms that motivate them to act in some different way. You can explain why making some change is to their — and other people’s — advantage, hope they accept your reasoning, and reward those who make the switch. You can even threaten or punish people if they don’t get on board, though that’s not a recommended motivational technique. Ultimately, though, it’s up to each individual to decide that they’re willing to operate differently in the future.
Steering
Effectively steering a software organization — be it a small group or an entire company — toward new ways of working requires the change…
