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A Spoonful of Sugar: Improving the Taste of Change

If a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down, what does it take to make process and information betterment the order of the day in your organization? You can say “this is good for you” all you want, but if it tastes bad, no one will stick with it long enough to get well!

And so it is that I’m spending more and more of my time helping clients figure out not only how to get the most value they can from their information and their information technology, but how to get their people on board with the concept. Otherwise that information and information technology will never be properly leveraged to ensure the receipt of the desired business advantage.

One of the best ideas I ever encountered was a large industrial company that literally made poster children of their early adopters, hanging pictures of and salient quotes by the first people to “get it” on the walls of the corridors in the office. This recognition and endorsement served as great motivation for the others.

This approach would not have been nearly as effective, however, if the organization hadn’t first gotten people involved from the boardroom to the mailroom when initially scoping out the initiative. Inviting so many perspectives to the table when discussing business requirements and functional capabilities means everyone, everywhere believed they had a stake in the outcome, and that sense of ownership is invaluable when it comes to effecting change.

Better, even, than sugar for creating the sweet smell of success.

How do you sweeten your pot and bring people to the table? Our inquiring minds want to know, so drop a line or leave a comment!

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