Changing Minds within the Enterprise
by Bill Ives
The controversy over digg and user generated content has received a good bit of press and speculations on its impact on other such web sites. What are the implications for opening things up inside the enterprise? Jevon MacDonald covered this issue nicely in, What happened at Digg, and what does it mean for you? He wrote, “If you give this power (open content of enterprise 2.0) to your employees, what will you do when they revolt? Will you be able to handle it, not by throwing your power around, but by influencing the community of individuals you have allowed to grow.”
The balance of influence and power has long been a leadership issue. The most effective leaders have always led by influence and example and not by power. Enterprise 2.0 just makes this all more transparent. Research on leadership indicates that great leaders are those who share a vision that compels others to follow, rather than those who rule by power (Gardner & Laskin, – “Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership”). See also Howard Gardner’s more recent book on Changing Minds.
Here are some pointers from Changing Minds. This list can serve as a useful checklist of what to include, and be conscious of, as to attempt to change another’s mind (as opposed to simply doing a power play).
Reason – is there a logic employed, have the pros and cons been addressed?
Research – is there data to support the position?
Resonance – do we have a good feeling about the person attempting the mind change and/or does the new position feel right to us – can we connect emotionally with the mind changer?
Redescription – do we employ different ways to present the argument that build on each other?
Resources and Rewards – while rewards are useful, if only rewards are involved the result is more likely to be a temporary behavior change and we will revert to the prior position when the reward is withdrawn and not undergo a real mind change.
Real World Events – the context for considering the new position, such as the dot com boom and then the subsequent bust, can put it in a better or clearer perspective
Resistances – we need to be aware of, and address, possible obstacles to the mind change.
Real mind change is generally a slow process that involves all these factors, even when there is a sudden tipping point that takes us over to the new position. The tools for enterprise 2.0 can accelerate but also expose any attempted short cuts.
