When it comes to business decisions, there are two ends of the spectrum. On one end, there are the innovators. The folks who want to try new things and aren’t afraid of failing. On the other end of the spectrum, there are those who are afraid to make a bad decision. They feel they will lose a chance at a promotion or even lose their job if they go out on a limb to try something unique.
In my experience, the vast majority of business decision makers sit on the “afraid to fail” end of the spectrum.
And who can blame them? In the Great Recession of 2009-2012, unemployment reached 10% and many businesses were buckling down on innovation – even when that innovation may have ultimately increased their profit. Business leaders were looking to cut expenses and employees who “didn’t get it” by trying something new, often found their job on the chopping block.
A significant outcome of this recession driven environment is a fear of failure that drives committee approval for any significant purchase or decision (and some would argue, it doesn’t even have to be that significant). According to Brent Adamson, co-author of
The Challenger Sale, 6.8 decision makers, on average, are involved in a B2B purchasing decision. Meaning, you can’t decide to buy something for your company unless you consult with six of your coworkers. The same sort of decisional morass is associated with internal decisions like pricing changes or process improvement. You’d better be able to get your coworkers’ heads around your idea or there’s a good chance it won’t be implemented.
I know what you’re thinking: How am I supposed to do that?
Here’s a 6-step process for driving adoption of your idea:
- Find a visible champion. This is a senior leader who will promote your idea from stages and in meetings in which you don’t have access.
Tip: Unsure if your champion is explaining your idea correctly? Write your champion’s talking points. I’ve had senior leaders read my remarks verbatim on global all-employee calls.
- Create a shared need. You think your idea is in the best interest of others, but do they see it that way?
Tip: A threat/opportunity matrix can help. What is the threat if your organization doesn’t adopt your idea – layoffs, stock price drop? Likewise, what’s the opportunity if they do adopt your idea – increased profits, company positioned for growth?
- Share your vision. Stephen Covey had it right when he recommended we “start with the end in mind.”
Tip: Consider what behaviors will change in your improved state. When your idea is adopted what will there be more of and what will there be less of, from a behavioral perspective. For instance, if you’re planning to raise your prices, how do you want your sales team supporting that price increase?
- Gain Commitment from other key stakeholders. As you build out numbers 1-3 above, find ways to get stakeholders beyond your champion on board.
Tip: Think through what influences each stakeholder. I’m willing to bet it’s one or more of the following “3 D’s” – demand (leadership mandate), data, and/or demonstration (competitor or other industry best practices). As an example, your CFO will want to see the impact of a price increase on profit. You sales leader may want an example of how your competitors have successfully implemented price increases.
- Measure and communicate your success. This starts with taking a baseline measurement of whatever you’re trying to improve and then sharing across your organization how you’re tracking … even if it’s a small pilot in one part of your organization.
Tip: Add a Finance representative to your team. Very few improvements can be completely isolated from other parts of the business so when you become successful, other functions will lay claim to the results. “It wasn’t your initiative that drove the increase in profitability. It was sales/operations/marketing/fill-in-the-blank.” Your Finance rep will be an independent third party who can add credibility to your claim.
- Change systems and processes. You want your change to last and it won’t unless you change the functional processes that support it.
Tip: Think through how sales is measured and incented. For example, if you want to increase profit margin, but pay your salespeople solely on revenue, you’ll have a conflict of interest that will be hard to overcome.
The world is full of amazing ideas that are never implemented because innovators struggle to get coworker support for their initiative. We live in a world where nearly seven employees have to weigh-in on major decisions and that number continues to trend up.
In order to drive successful and lasting change, we must be thoughtful about how we build adoption for our ideas. The six-step process above has been proven to help innovators like yourself, quickly build momentum for ideas while also establishing you as a leader within your organization.
