How to Deliver Influence
Over the last week I have been wondering about what we learn and how we make use of this knowledge in our lives. Much of my thoughts have centred on whether our approach to education is in fact giving us the knowledge we need in our daily lives. Are we really gaining knowledge? Are we simply being told how to accomplish a given task? Are we being educated on the possible conclusions or just the one conclusion of the lesson - the educator's conclusion? In other words are we learning to come to our own conclusions? Are we able to, with what we are being taught, to really make the material our own, to synthesize it and to assimilate it into a true understanding? To take all of this data and understand. To come up with our own way and our own conclusion. Are we always being asked to conform? Do we need conformity?
I have had many such conversations at work over the last days and, coincidentally, I came across some TED Talks by Sir Ken Robinson two days ago. Those conversations and videos have solidified in my mind the importance of changing how we educate people so that we can make education as individualistic as possible. So that the students not only learn a process, steps or method but truly understand why to follow the process, steps, method and how to make those things as real to them based on their own strengths and weaknesses.
Let me be specific. I work in an organization that is evolving from being one that has delivered basic, simple and generic remote services to its customers to one that now delivers more complex product and sales help. We are in the midst of moving from being measured on what we deliver and the quantity of delivery to being measured on the business result - not the steps along the way. The process, steps, method matter less.
The issue is that in life, whether in primary and secondary schools or in corporate education, we are generally taught what the steps are and not what the objective is. We are given presentations and scripts and dates to memorize and follow. Rarely are alternative methods shared. Are we ever told to solve a problem using whatever methods or tools we can come up with? This only happens in special workshops when outside help is brought in to show us an alternative approach. No, in school we are told there is one way to do it. The supposed best, most efficient, tried and tested way developed over the years. As a result many assume there is no better way and follow the given steps.
If, rather, we educated on the desired result and, in addition to learning the tried and tested way we were shown how different people have synthesized and assimilated the information and made it their own, we would find a way that is more authentic to our own abilities. If the learning involved trying one's own methods first and allowed failure and iteration would we come out with a better understanding of the problem at hand? It would promote problem solving using methods which come naturally to the individual. The point is that you could follow whatever path you are comfortable with and therefore more likely to comprehend and later explain. Rather we are told to get in line and follow.
Of course, as we age, we eventually do start developing our own different steps and methods. Our confidence grows. But businesses can't wait for careers and life to teach employees. They need to adapt quickly. So we create process and steps.
There are some tasks where clearly conformity is required. When you build a product every single one of those needs to be identical, of the same quality. They are built to specifications and purchased based on those specifications. However when the job is delivering a service which is meant to influence human behaviour conformity loses importance. Each interaction is unique because we are dealing with human beings who each have their unique specifications. The listener and person you are influencing are complex. They have changing moods from one conversation to the next and one day to the next. They have different ways of interpreting information. Their daily context varies. We each have different ways of approaching problem solving and getting stuff done.
The most effective human to human interactions can't be taught and there is no right way to go about them. The best communication is when both parties connect, adapt to each other - nevertheless remaining authentic - accept their differences and create a way that is unique to that specific conversation on that specific day. It means constant adapting - like the tightrope walker making constant modifications as the wind shifts. If that happens then real influence occurs and the service has a much greater chance of success.
In conclusion, the more varied the set of shared steps and processes are, the more open we are to various ways of achieving the objective, the less structured the processes are, the more we will be able to create our own, authentic and comfortable approach to reaching our objective and, in the case of business, the impacts we are looking for.
So let's complement training with coaching, mentoring, shadowing and flexibility in approach and give people the opportunity to create their own approach that will, in the longer-term, possibly positively impact the so called tried and tested approach!
Let me know what you think about what you have just read. Please and thanks!
I have had many such conversations at work over the last days and, coincidentally, I came across some TED Talks by Sir Ken Robinson two days ago. Those conversations and videos have solidified in my mind the importance of changing how we educate people so that we can make education as individualistic as possible. So that the students not only learn a process, steps or method but truly understand why to follow the process, steps, method and how to make those things as real to them based on their own strengths and weaknesses.
Let me be specific. I work in an organization that is evolving from being one that has delivered basic, simple and generic remote services to its customers to one that now delivers more complex product and sales help. We are in the midst of moving from being measured on what we deliver and the quantity of delivery to being measured on the business result - not the steps along the way. The process, steps, method matter less.
The issue is that in life, whether in primary and secondary schools or in corporate education, we are generally taught what the steps are and not what the objective is. We are given presentations and scripts and dates to memorize and follow. Rarely are alternative methods shared. Are we ever told to solve a problem using whatever methods or tools we can come up with? This only happens in special workshops when outside help is brought in to show us an alternative approach. No, in school we are told there is one way to do it. The supposed best, most efficient, tried and tested way developed over the years. As a result many assume there is no better way and follow the given steps.
If, rather, we educated on the desired result and, in addition to learning the tried and tested way we were shown how different people have synthesized and assimilated the information and made it their own, we would find a way that is more authentic to our own abilities. If the learning involved trying one's own methods first and allowed failure and iteration would we come out with a better understanding of the problem at hand? It would promote problem solving using methods which come naturally to the individual. The point is that you could follow whatever path you are comfortable with and therefore more likely to comprehend and later explain. Rather we are told to get in line and follow.
Of course, as we age, we eventually do start developing our own different steps and methods. Our confidence grows. But businesses can't wait for careers and life to teach employees. They need to adapt quickly. So we create process and steps.
There are some tasks where clearly conformity is required. When you build a product every single one of those needs to be identical, of the same quality. They are built to specifications and purchased based on those specifications. However when the job is delivering a service which is meant to influence human behaviour conformity loses importance. Each interaction is unique because we are dealing with human beings who each have their unique specifications. The listener and person you are influencing are complex. They have changing moods from one conversation to the next and one day to the next. They have different ways of interpreting information. Their daily context varies. We each have different ways of approaching problem solving and getting stuff done.
The most effective human to human interactions can't be taught and there is no right way to go about them. The best communication is when both parties connect, adapt to each other - nevertheless remaining authentic - accept their differences and create a way that is unique to that specific conversation on that specific day. It means constant adapting - like the tightrope walker making constant modifications as the wind shifts. If that happens then real influence occurs and the service has a much greater chance of success.
In conclusion, the more varied the set of shared steps and processes are, the more open we are to various ways of achieving the objective, the less structured the processes are, the more we will be able to create our own, authentic and comfortable approach to reaching our objective and, in the case of business, the impacts we are looking for.
So let's complement training with coaching, mentoring, shadowing and flexibility in approach and give people the opportunity to create their own approach that will, in the longer-term, possibly positively impact the so called tried and tested approach!
Let me know what you think about what you have just read. Please and thanks!
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