How progress happens: the down and dirty truth

March 19th 2009

O’Reilly Media Webcast

Scott Berkun

www.scottberkun.com

Hi. I’m Scott.

▪ 9 years @ MSFT (1994-2003)

▪ IE 1.0 -> 5.0, Windows, MSN

▪ Since 2003: Author / Speaker

▪ Bestsellers:▫ Making things happen, (O’Reilly 2008)

▫ The myths of Innovation, (O’Reilly, 2007)

▪ www.scottberkun.com

▫ Blog, essays, podcasts, videos

There is no change until someone stakes their reputation on doing something different

You can not make change without power

How to understand any innovation:

▪ Ask any of the following questions

▫ What did they risk?

▫ What mistakes did they make?

▫ How many failures did the endure?

▫ How much time did it take?

If you want to be an innovator, take your

own inventory of what you are willing to do

Agenda

▪ Change▪ Tactics you should know

▪ Tactics you can use

Move your mouse to the other side of

your desk

Move your desk

We fear change

▪ We do not like Change because:

▫ It creates work

▫ It requires thinking

▫ We have to talk and listen to each other

▫ It raises questions we’d prefer to avoid

▫ It puts us at risk of embarrassment / death

Maslow’s hierarchy

Traditions protect against change

▪ We codify rules and mythologize their origins

▪ Binds society together

▪ “I’ve always done X”

▪ “I was raised to do Y”

▪ “My family has done Z for generations”

▪ Doing something solely because you’ve done it before is less than smart

Idea Killers (from The Myths of

Innovation)

▪ We’ve tried that before

▪ We’ve never done that before

▪ That’s not how we do things here

▪ That’s not in our budget

▪ Customers will not like this (without asking)

▪ Management will never go for it

Reference: http://www.scottberkun.com/blog/2006/idea-killers-

ways-to-stop-ideas/

We seek change when

▪ Confronted with failure

▪ Witness peers succeeding through other means

▪ Are unhappy

▪ Are bored to tears

▪ Confidence in change is greater than commitment to the status-quo

A new scientific truth does not triumph by

convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually

die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.

-Max Plank

Quoted by Kuhn,The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

Agenda

▪ We fear change!▪ Facts you should know▪ Tactics you can use

REVOLUTION

POWER

GRASS ROOTS

Agenda

▪ We fear change!▪ Facts you should know

▪ Tactics you can use

How progress happens

▪ Power: What changes can you mandate?

▪ Persuasion: Whose support can you earn?

▪ Intuition: What can you anticipate?

▪ Case Study: Chester Carlson & XEROX

Playbook for Individuals

▪ Pilot

▪ Show success

▪ Find allies

▪ Ask for more resources, Stake reputation

▪ Repeat

▪ (Coup!)

▪ Entrepreneurship is a similar process

Playbook for managers

▪ Pavlov lives! (We follow rewards)

▪ Hire for change (Age & Psychology)

▪ Accept some ideas you do not like

▪ Encourage interesting failures

▪ Only you can provide cover fire

Agenda

▪ People make change, not technologies▪ We fear change!

▪ Facts: Revolution, Power, Grass roots

▪ Tactics: Pilot & Repeat, Cover fire

Photo Credits

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/577019 - Parking meter

http://www.flickr.com/photos/93455043@N00/3106852634/ Laundromat

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shelleybrunt/2303234043/ - Change machine

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gauri_lama/2744830499/ - candy machines

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/840748 - cash register

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1140453 - Grass

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/793340 - Dandelion seeds

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Conf_dead_chancellorsville.jpg dead soldiershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_revolutions_and_rebellions - Reference

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/407416 - Cover arrow

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Povoden_2002_hlasna_treban.jpg - Flood

Questions?

Scott Berkunwww.scottberkun.com