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Predict the Adoption of Your Social Business Initiative – Part 2

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Now that you know the five factors to predict the rate of adoption of your initiative (whether it be social technologies, cultural change, etc.), let’s put this into something that will give us a measurement.

First, you have to pick your target audience.  Know who you want to evaluate a tool.  Then, take each one of the five and evaluate your initiative against it.  Next, rate it – 0 through 5, with 0 signifying that it does not satisfy the factor at all, and 5 signifying that it is very strong in fulfilling this need.

Then mutilply the first two factors, Relative Advantage and Compatability, by 1.5 and the others by 1.  Why?  The first two hold more weight and are particularly telling (according to Rogers).  If they all scored 5 then the total score would be 30.

 

I thought about ranking the results (1-30 = Weak …. 85-100=Strong), but I don’t feel that it is needed.  Anyone who sees a 75% can tell that there is room to grow and will know where to focus to make is stronger. Again, it is not so much a crystal ball as it is a gauge to help us know where to focus our efforts to increase adoption.

Solving Real Work Problems

Two strengths of this tool are: 1) To quickly find where the holes are and 2) Explain in simple terms why an initiative was or was not (or will or will not be) adopted.

As I have used this, I have found that there are two types of adoption to account for.  One is Initial Adoption, the other is Sustained Adoption.  They are both very different and can show different results.

As an example, there is one particular technology I have heard many employees at different companies talk about. It spreads like wildfire at the beginning.  The executives get excited that it is working: many people sign up and start using it.  But not long after, usage drops off and only a very small fraction of people use it.  (In one company with 2 years of using it, there are over 6000 registered users, 25 regular users and 35 using on any given day).  Not only is management frustrated, but so are the employees.  The result: it isn’t used often.

To explain this phenomenon, I evaluated it using the Adoption Index.

Looking at the above analysis (although this version does not go into depth for display purposes), you can understand why it is initially adopted quickly.  Yet why is it not used after initial adoption?  Why do employees drop it?  Again, I use the Adoption Index to explain this.

 

There is more behind this analysis, but these are the bare basics.  This is only one example of how the Adoption Index can help explain why an innovation or technology will or won’t be adopted.

This tool will give you direction on where you should spend your efforts.  For example, if your score is low in complexity, you will know where to spend your time and how to focus to make your initiative more successful.

I have used this with initiatives to simply explain to executives and management why their products or initiatives were not as successful as they had hoped.  Unfortunately, I have not used it to show why their efforts were much more successful than they anticipated, only because this rarely happens.  But I hope to one day.

Feel free to use and give suggestions on how to make it better.  I hope it will help you explain past initiative’s adoption rates and predict future ones.  Here it is in PowerPoint format.

 

Creative Commons License
Adoption Index by Kevin D. Jones is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at Diffusion of Innovations by Everett M. Rogers.

Predict the Adoption of Your Business Initiative – Part 1

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If only we could predict how quickly our initiatives will be adopted!  Then we could focus on those that will yield high returns and we could reduce the risk of failure.  But… those people!  They always mess things up!  Even when we think we have the perfect product / technology / purpose / program, people mess it up!

While I can’t give you a crystal ball, I have found a useful way to evaluate initiatives and determine a rough prediction of the rate of adoption.  To be honest, this could be for anything – any product, process, technology, social initiative, chore chart program for your kids…  But let’s focus on making major changes within your company.

The Adoption Index

One of my favorite books is Diffusion of Innovations by Everett M. Rogers.  Although this largely academic book was originally written in 1962, it hasn’t lost any of its usefulness.  It explains why innovations and technologies – in the true sense of the word – are adopted, or not, and at what rate.  Rogers explains that there are five factors which have the most weight in the outcome.  I will briefly explain each in context.

1)“Relative advantage is the degree to which an innovation is perceived as better than the idea it supersedes.  The degree of relative advantage may be measured in economic terms, but social prestige factors, convenience, and satisfaction are also important factors.”

To many, social technologies are just another thing they have to check.  Rather than realizing that it supersedes anything, they see that it is an addition to what they already have to do.  And they already don’t have enough time!  Convenient?  No way!  Satisfaction when there is perceived information overload?

How do we combat relative advantage when it comes to implementing initiatives at your company?  Contrary to popular belief, an ROI will not convince them.     It will help them get over an obstacle, but I have never seen someone walk away from a presentation on ROI energized and excited to tackle a new organizational project.  At this point it is stories and examples and case studies which spark their imagination.  In a large part, it is a process of education and perceived application.
2)“Compatibility is the degree to which an innovation is perceived as being consistent with the existing values, past experiences, and needs of potential adopters.”

When I work with companies, this is often referred to as CULTURE.  What values, traditions, beliefs to employees hold to tightly?  And how does the new technology match up with the culture?  This is an especially tricky one because with social technologies within the workplace it almost always matches up well with the values of the company.  Yet the operative word in the description above is PERCEIVED.  How are social technologies perceived?  As time wasters, one more system to learn, a fun platform, full of noise, and the list goes on.

One way I have broken past this is to show the Party Planning video.  It breaks down preconceived ideas and they suddenly get it.  They had a different perception of what “it” was.  Suddenly they get a peak into what it REALLY is and they realize how well compatible the values really are.
3)“Complexity is the degree to which an innovation is perceived as difficult to understand and use.”

This, now so much more than before, is increasingly important.  In this world of clean and simple UIs and Twitter, we feel we should be able to look at something, or read it, or experience it and instantly understand it.  If it takes time (precious time that employees don’t want to give up) to understand, then often it is not worth the effort.

And then if they try and it is as difficult as they thought, this creates another obstacle.  They gave it a try, it wasn’t worth it and so they go back to the old way of working.
4)“Trialability is the degree to which an innovation may be experimented with on a limited basis.”

Not all innovations can be experimented with.  For example, a new organizational structure often just needs to happen, rather than be experimented with.  And again, our modern culture has set the expectation of free trials, subsidized technologies and throw away products, ideas, and methodologies.  The danger here is that the latest so-called fad is not experimented with deeply enough to understand it.  We tend to cover the surface, hoping that the learner will dive in deeper.  But they too often do not.

Yet the easier it is to dive in, try it out and come back to their safe place, the more likely it is to be experimented with. The more this happens, the easier it will be to process into their own values.
5) “Observability is the degree to which the results of an innovation are visible to others. The easier it is for individuals to see the results of an innovation, the more likely they are to adopt.”

Not only are they looking for the stated result, but they are looking for the unintentional results sometimes even more.  For example, rather than agreeing to forgo a vacation policy and allow each person to keep track of their own, they want not only to know the financial impacts, but if people will abuse the new policy.  To them it may be obvious – again we are talking about perception.

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I must point out that this is only skimming the surface.  To really understand this (and make the tool more useful) I would suggest buying the book and going through at least the first couple of chapters.

In the next post I will explain how we can use these factors to guage the rate of adoption of your initiative.  There will also be examples of how I have used it to show adoption rates.

Apathetic Failure – The Zero-Sum Danger

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So far I have outlined three kinds of failure: Intrinsic, Catastrophic, and Pandemic.  (A great podcast discussion centered around these three types.)

The fourth type is Apathetic Failure.

This type of failure can often be seen behind the statements, “I only neet to hang on a few more years until I retire,” or “Whatever they want, I will do.  I’m tired of fighting.”  They come from those who are unempowered, unmotivated, and lack care –  and they are often a product of their culture.

It’s not Pandemic where there is a lot of complaining but no action.  In Apathetic Failure, the evaluation to find something to complain about rarely happens.  Their unofficial motto is, “Whatever happens, happens.”  A “Hakuna Matata” attitude.  As was sung in the Lion King, “It’s our problem free philosophy.”  It is problem free because of the lack of evaluation.  And that happens because of a lack of caring.

Apathetic failure is quiet – hidden.  It may be visible to those close to the person, but not necessarily management.  They fly right under the radar.  Some come in exactly on time, take all of their breaks, leave exactly on time, and spend more time on nonproductive tasks.  They aren’t doing anything that will draw attention to them – for good or bad.  They will do the minimum and rarely much more.

Intel has a way to vet them out: R&Rs, or Rank and Rating (I believe they still do this).  A group of managers ranks the collective employees from most valuable to least.  For example, if I was a project manager, I would be ranked against the other project managers in the group.  Those who were at the bottom (I believe) 10% were put on notice.  Some employees don’t like the method as it forces employees to be put on a plan no matter how good they may be.  But one thing it does do is weed out the apathetic employees.

Law of the River

Why is this a failure?  It has to do with what I call the Law of the River.  I grew up less than a mile from the beautiful McKenzie River.  One of my most favorite things to do is just sit and listen to the river going by.  I would often see a drift boat float along with the current.  For them to do down stream they didn’t need to do anything (minus keep away from the bank).  The river took them where the river took them.

This is fine for drifting, but in the world we rarely want to drift.  We want to go up stream.  To do that, we need to exert some energy and row.  If we do nothing, we go down stream away from our goals.  Those who fail apathetically are not rowing, but they are not overtly trying to get down stream either.  They just float along.

These employees are zero-sum.  They neither add to nor take away from the organization.  They are being paid to maintain the status quo.  I don’t know any company who can afford this, especially in the competitive landscape we all work in.

We fail apathetically when we just allow things to happen without influencing them for the better.

Although they haven’t made the best strategic decisions lately, Netflix has a slide deck that impressed me.  (I am assuming it is official, but cannot confirm.  If not, I love a lot of what it says).  They will not tolerate Apathetic Failure and do all they can structure the company’s culture so that it does not affect their employees.

My Challenge For You

1) Evaluate yourself to see if you are failing apathetically and decide to either drop the cause or, if it is worthy of your attention, to step up your involvement.

2) Find those in your organization who fall in this category and take appropriate action.

Culture

The Social Technology Video People Just Get

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[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQcqlO5Gk8A’]

The Story Behind The Video

Last holiday season, I received an email from a secretary who was planning a work party.  “Please RSVP and tell me what you are bringing.”  I did and she responded with, “Thanks!” Over the course of the next few weeks, she would send an updated spreadsheet out to everyone showing them what others were brining so that they didn’t bring too much of one type of food.  It dawned on me – she was sending out and receiving hundreds of emails!  What a pain!

I talked with her and asked, “Why aren’t you using the collaborative tool?  It would be much easier.”  She had not thought of it, but said she would next time.

In my next training I related this experience and then showed a live example of what could have been done.  The intent, of course, was to help them understand how these technologies could help them in their everyday work by showing them a scenario they were all familiar with. Their reaction took me by surprise.  Not only did they get it, but there was a real emotional attachment to what they just learned.  When they saw this, they not only understood how it could help them, but they instantly were able to make a connection between the example and multiple ways they could use the same principles to make their work better, more efficient (every trainer’s dream!).

My thoughts turned to helping others “get it” as well, as easily and as quickly as this class did.  So I created this video.  The first time I showed it to someone was in an hour meeting.  At the beginning she said, “I hate all this. If you can convince me, you can convince anyone.”  The intent of the meeting was not to convince her, but I still said that I would try.  But then I promptly forgot about this challenge as I dove into the agenda of the meeting.  During the working meeting, she started warming up to the idea a little bit, but still had a long way to go.

Then, at the end, I thought I would show the video for the first time – give a pre-screening to those in the meeting.  At the end of the viewing my naysayer had a grin from ear to ear.  Why?  She finally got it.  She was clapping her hands above her head, laughing and saying, “It makes sense!  Do you think I could use it in… (detailing several situations)”  We confirmed her ideas and she was ecstatic.  Her enthusiasm came because the lightbulb finally went off.

Now, when I show this video in my workshops and trainings, people just “get it.”  The group starts reeling off ideas of how they could use it.  The questions during the session increase because they are thinking about how they could use it in their work.

If it will help you, feel free to use it as well.

(Parts of the video have been blurred so names and logos are not revealed.  If you would like a customized version of this video for your organization, contact me.)

Age Decreases Usage: Social Business Failure #15

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Age: We hear it all the time.

“The young guys coming in – they all know how to use this stuff.  If we can get them on board we will have an easier time with people adopting our social tool.”

I agree.  And I fully disagree.

If you can get the younger workforce to adopt your tool, then (imagine this) more people will have adopted your tool.  But we can’t think that just because they are young means that they will use it – because that’s not necessarily true.

The example that sticks out most to me is a time when I was doing some analysis for a customer on who was using their social tool and who was not (back a few years ago when all of this was still young).  I found one fresh-out-of-college gal who never used it.  Why?  It didn’t have anything to do with her job.  On the opposite end I found a 55+ woman who swore by it.  She used it all the time.  Why?  Because how she used it was woven into how she did her job.

This can’t be said loudly enough: Age has very, very, very little to do with social technology adoption within an organization – it is age agnostic.  I have found that those who are younger are more willing to use it and those who are older (generally) are less willing to use it.  But when it comes to actual usage, I could not find a correlation.

The strongest correlation for adoption if it became a part of how they worked.  If it was an extra add-on responsibility, they didn’t use it, no matter the age.

 

Previous Social Business Failures:

Social Business Failure #12: “This Isn’t About the Tool”

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In complete juxtaposition from last week’s post, we can’t forget this is also about the tool.

When I first started working with NASA, there was a group sent out to look at tools. (Although this story is about NASA, there are others I have worked with which have done the same thing – this is a pretty common scenario.)  They went through the usual drill.  They gathered features, functionality.  They conducted a bake-off to determine which tool is the best.  They chose one and implemented it on a pilot basis.

It failed, which is why they asked me to help.  It didn’t work for a number of reasons, but not the least of them being that although they were looking for social media, what they were evaluating were tools that were not “social”.  They thought they were social tools (indeed, the tools marketed themselves as such) but they were not.  They lacked some of the more basic requirements needed to pull it off.  They were looking more at content management tools, not social tools.

Then, when we got on the right track, there was a tendency to go with the cheaper solution.  But this solution did not have what was needed. (Cost and convenience are odd things.  They lure us to a decision we know is not worthy and we are caught between the two – what is right and what is more convenient or cheapest.  But that thought is for another day…)

Too many times we try to jump in with the tool first.  RESIST THAT TEMPTATION.  But when it is time to choose a tool, it is a very important decision, one not to be taken lightly.  Although social is not ABOUT the tool, the tool is a heavy component and should not be discounted.

For example, the number of clicks it takes to get to information, the flow in which that happens and the ways users are notified of new/changed content are often overlooked or glossed over points by a novice when choosing a tool.  There are many attributes that have a hidden importance and until you understand the social element you very well may not uncover those needed features.

So what to do?  1) Make sure the person who evaluates potential tools has experience in this.  There are enough people out there that finding someone should not be a problem anymore.  2) Listen to them and weigh their advice heavily.

And then know this: No tool (or set of tools) will give you everything you need and want.  There are gives and takes, many of which won’t be discovered until you have purchased and implemented the tool in production.  Just go with it and enjoy the journey!

Social Business Failure #9: Make Policy Ugly

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Social Media Policy almost seems like an oxymoron.  Whereas “Social Media” is supposed to open, transparent, emergent and free flowing, policy is rigid, structured and often unforgiving.

I have read many social media policies.  Some are great, others are ugly.  The ones that are ugly forget that they are to be read by a human, not an autobot.  They are so lengthy and full of legalese that they pretty much guarantee that no one will read them.  And if no one reads them, what good are they except to be used as a force of punishment?

Hint #1: Write it in a way that will be read.  When done correctly the reader feels informed and empowered, not confused and stifled.

Many times a policy is not needed.  Why?  Because everything they need to say is already in other policy statements.  Sometimes all that is needed is direction.

Hint #2: Write guidelines and pull in policy from other places.  This way you don’t have to write everything all over again.

And Hint #3: Read other company policies and guidelines.  There are a TON out there.  Then (Hint #4) get someone who understands social business to write it.  Don’t let a generalist in legal, HR, or IT get their hands on it until after a good solid draft is done.

At that point run it by them and get their feedback.  They will most likely have some great insights.

You might even have a little fun with it…

Social Business Failure #7: Give Them Another Option

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Tomorrow I am speaking at the NASA IT Summit. Last night I saw an act that encapsulated the essence of this failure. The evening open reception had (my guess) over 1000 people. There was food, an open bar and tables and chairs. Most people were standing in small groups talking. The environment was set up to encourage mingling and discussion. But they scheduled a speaker during that time.

About 30 minutes into it, the emcee introduced the speaker. The speaker at the beginning asked for about five minutes of our time. No one stopped talking. About 30 seconds into it, she said, “Hello. Excuse me. Could I please have your attention? This is really important.” Then she kept talking and so did everyone else. About two minutes into it, emcee her took over and said, “Will you please give her your attention? Let’s show some courtesy and listen to the speaker.”

Nothing they could do stopped the talking and mingling. Why? They set the environment one way and then completely contradicted it. The audience chose the path of least resistance and ignored the speaker.

We do the same thing. We give multiple options to social business and then are disappointed when it doesn’t work. I have seen so many people take this shotgun approach to social business and it just doesn’t work.

I know of one CEO who started blogging in one place, then his IT team gave him another. Now his posts go to both places. Comments made on one blog don’t populate to the other. So the effect is only half as good.

I have seen teams say, “We want you to blog.” Then no one does and they are disappointed that “blogging” didn’t work. Of course it didn’t! They didn’t have a reason to blog.

KEY: You have to have a reason to do anything, including using social media. No reason = no use.

I once listened to a keynote speech by Tim O’Reilly (who made the term “WEB 2.0” popular). He said, in essence, “How do you get people to use Web 2.0? Force them.” At the time I thought it was harsh – but he is right. The more and more I thought about it, if you give options, people will take the path of least resistance.

What is normally that path? The status quo – what they are used to and comfortable with. Why would that team blog if they have email? Why would those at the reception stop talking?

So how do you “force them?” Take away other options. For example, you may ask a critical question of your team, but put it on a social business platform where, if they want to talk about it, they NEED to go there. Or put key information in a your platform. Make it a part of how you are doing business.

We don’t need to be harsh about this at all. Just make it easy to become engaged in social business.

Social Business Failure #6: Go Cheap

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Imagine this happy couple’s future wedding anniversary.   And imagine her excitement when he says, “I’ve got this one planned, honey (schnookums, poodle, whatever).

The day comes and he surprises his spouse with a trip to the local Golden Arches.  He gets a weird look shot at him and he respond with, “Ya, I know it’s cheap, but it IS dinner.  At least we are doing that!  But wait for the after dinner festivities!”

So, they slug through some Quarter Pounders with cheese, fries, a drink and of course a hot fudge sundae shared.  Then they leave with promises that the next adventure will be better.  They round the corner and the big SEARS signs welcomes them.  None too excited, she goes along with it.  They walk in and he says, ” I know you have always wanted a ___(fill in the blank)____ and now we can get one.”  She is excited!  They go over to the (FITB) section and she says, “Let’s get a sales guy to help us pick out the best one and learn how to use it.”

“Oh, no can do.  You see, I worked out a deal with them.  If I don’t ask for help we will get it for cheaper.”

“But how will we know which one to choose?  And how will we learn how to use it?”

“Ya, well, we will have to figure that one out on our own.  Sure, it will take longer, but think about the amount of money we are saving!”

It is about this time that we, as readers of the story, can take a step back and laugh, knowing that this would never happen in real life.

Oh, wait.

Companies do this constantly.  I have seen this so many times (and I am sure you have, too).  Can we expect this couple to stay happily married for long?  Probably not.  Why?  Where is his focus?  What about the relationship between company and employee?  Aren’t both the husband and company just looking out for the bottom line, doing what is best fiscally?  If that is truly all they can do, then that might be the sweetest gift.  Yet so many times we know that isn’t the case.

When we go cheap with social business we might look for the free software (at least on the front end) and not consider anything else.  Or maybe not put the technical resources behind it to make sure it runs well.  Or maybe not hire someone who knows how to help a company adopt it (hoping the “build it and they will come” might work).

But it never does.  Here is the low down.  It will take the money.  Remember, this is not about technology.  If you do it on the cheap it reflects on you.  Do it right.  If you decide to jump into social business, do it right.  Hire the right people.  Buy the right software. Put it on the right hardware.  Give the team the time and resources they need to do it right.  Not that you have to be extravagant, but put the commitment forth that will lead to success.  If you are throwing it out there just to appease, I would suggest not doing it at all.

Social Business Needs Those Who Are Willing To Be BOLD

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Are You So Bold…

  • that you would openly have a conversation about a project’s faults?
  • that you would ask a question of anyone – everyone – and thus show your ignorance and that (heaven forbid) you don’t know all the answers (even when you maybe ought to)?
  • to bring up a point that others are scared to bring up for fear of retribution?
  • to point out a mistake another has made (with tact and in private), even if that person has more seniority than you?
  • that you would alert others of a roadblock, even if it might mean political backlash?
  • that you would bring up what needs to be said, not only what others want to hear?

Trust, openness and transparency are bedrock ideals of Social Business – yet too many company cultures fears them.  For businesses to go into the next phase of  economics and be successful this MUST change.

So many people won’t do the right thing because of fear of a personal backlash rather than the fear of a project’s failure.  When America’s CIO, Vivek Kundra, spoke about the billions of dollars wasted, over and over again, on failed IT projects, I was astounded.  We all know that has to do, in large part, with deformed cultures.

Success will not be built on whether or not we have some obsure piece of documentation filed, but rather if we, as people (not a process), create a new culture.  That’s right – you and I and your office neighbor.

We cannot expect to progress without change.

What we need are those who will be bold.  Those who are willing to take a risk.

Will there be times when you get slapped down?  You bet. Times when you will be given unfair consequences?  Without a doubt. Times when you say what everyone else wanted to say, yet no one will back you up? Count on it.

But if not you, who?

(An aside: Being bold is not the same as being overbearing or toxic.  I fully support the former and frown upon the latter.)

 

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