Understanding How People
Change: A Diversity Issue
Living In / Living With Diversity
Mary Lynn Manns
Department of Management & Accountancy
Common misconceptions of
change leaders
Policies will address most of our issues
– Laws & rewards treat symptoms, not the underlying causes
– What is needed?... a fundamental change in thinking and
behaving
We can persuade people with well-prepared presentations and
“elevator speeches”
– This makes it difficult to address individual concerns
Just the facts, ma’am
•
The facts provide only knowledge
knowledge – persuasion – decision – implementation – confirmation
Leading change…
it’s about relationships
Change happens one individual at a time.
Relate to what’s going on in the other person’s
head, not in yours. (R.N. Bolles, What Color is Your Parachute?)
What separates those who achieve from those
who do not is in direct proportion to one’s ability
to ask for help. (D. Keough, former president of Coca-Cola)
Innovativeness of the individual
The degree to which an individual is relatively earlier in
adopting a new idea than other members of a social
system
Partitioned into 5 adopter categories by laying off
standard deviations from the average time of adoption
A continuous variable
– A simplification that aids in the understanding of human
behavior
– However, we lose information as a result of grouping
individuals
(Rogers)
Guru on Your Side
Champion Skeptic
Early Majority
Bridge-Builder
Early Adopter
Connector
Local Sponsor
Innovator
Innovator
New stuff is cool!
Venturesomeness is almost
an obsession
Can cope with a high degree
of uncertainty
A (temporary) gatekeeper for
the change
Not a good “opinion leader”
Early Adopter
This is interesting, but I want to
hear more.
Known for successful, discrete use
of new ideas, so this person is…
… respected and makes a good…
… opinion leader
Early Majority
What do other people think?
Are risk-adverse and want to
know the experiences of
others
Provide a link to interpersonal
networks
Bridge-Builder
Pair those who have accepted the
idea with those who have not
Homophily: similar beliefs,
personality, lifestyle
Spreads message among similar
people (horizontally)
“Strong ties”
(Granovetter, 1973)
Connector
Communicates with many
different types of people
Heterophily allows an idea to
spread vertically
“Weak ties” (Granovetter, 1973)
Guru on Your Side
Has the ear of managers and
non-managers alike
May be “delicate” to convince
Can make or break your efforts
Local Sponsor
Can provide support and
resources
Use
– [Whisper in the General’s Ear]
– [Guru Review]
– [Tailor Made]
Champion Skeptic
Rather than fearing or avoiding
the skeptics, respect what they
have to say
Consider giving them an official
role in the change initiative
A variety of people
in your change initiative
[Innovator]
[Early Adopter]
[Early Majority]
[Bridge-Builder]
[Connector]
[Guru on Your Side]
[Evangelist]
[Local Sponsor]
[Champion Skeptic]
Manns & Rising (2005) Fearless Change: Patterns for Introducing New Ideas
Summary…
People are diverse even when adopting change
If we learn about this diversity, we can:
– persuade each person in the most effective way
[PersonalTouch]
– involve each person in the change initiative [Involve
Everyone]
– develop a [Group Identity]
If you and I were exactly the same, one of us would not
be necessary.