berkun progress webcast
DESCRIPTION
The presentation from Scott Berkun's O'Reilly Webcast on March 19, 2009: How Progress Happens: The Down and Dirty Truth.TRANSCRIPT
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