Careers Tip: How to influence anyone

-- Dieters spend US$40 billion a year on weight-loss products, and 19 out of 20 lose nothing but their money (National Eating Disorders Association).

-- Some 70 percent of smokers quit, then resume in less than 12 months (American Heart Association).

-- Companies spend more than $300 billion for training every year, but less than 10 percent of what people are taught sticks ("Transfer of Training: A Review and Directions for Future Research," by T.T. Baldwin and J.K. Ford, 1988).

-- Two out of three criminals are rearrested within three years (U.S. Department of Justice).

If influence is the capacity to help ourselves and others change our behavior, then it is clearly one of the most vital, yet scarcest, commodities on the planet. We all want influence, but few of us know how to get it. And in IT, the ability to influence those over whom you have no authority is the difference between success and failure.

I'm going to show you a new view of influence that will help you lead change within your IT organization and beyond.

Mike Miller employed this influence strategy when he became vice president of development at Sprint PCS Group, whose 3,000-person IT organization hadn't met a product release date in years, was running well over budget and had morale that was in the gutter. In less than 12 months, Miller achieved a 30 percent improvement in quality, a 100 percent improvement in on-time delivery of software releases, more than a 50 percent improvement in productivity and a 10 percent increase in employee satisfaction.

The key to successful influence lies in taking these three powerful steps:

1. Identify a handful of high-leverage behaviors that lead to rapid and profound change.

2. Use personal and vicarious experience to change thoughts and actions.

3. Marshall multiple sources of influence to make change inevitable.

Identify 'Vital' Behaviors. The first step to any successful influence strategy is to decide what you're trying to change. There are three big ideas here:

Focus on behaviors. Don't even begin to develop your influence strategy until you've carefully identified the behaviors that need to change. Interventions -- such as educational courses, reorganizations and new equipment -- should be considered only after you've determined the behaviors that will lead to success.

A few improved behaviors can drive a lot of change. Successful change agents don't spread their efforts across 10 priorities. They understand that profound change requires a precise focus, so they home in on three or four vital behaviors. For example, Sprint was plagued with "project chicken." Instead of being frank when they were behind schedule, project managers kept silent, hoping that others would admit to problems and take the heat for delays. This single failure was central to quality, schedule, productivity and morale problems. The behavior that eventually drove improvements in all these areas was honest and timely discussions about delays.

Validate these behaviors by setting short-term goals within a low-risk environment. Don't assume you've found the right behaviors to focus on until you've conducted a mini-study. Create a small pilot study in which you can watch the effect of new behaviors on results. When you're sure about the behaviors, create a large-scale influence strategy.

Use personal and vicarious experience to change thoughts and actions. Changing behavior requires changing minds. People base their actions on two critical questions: "Can I do it?" and "Will it be worth it?" Unless the answers are affirmative, you won't change much behavior. The vast majority of attempts to influence these answers rely on presentations of data, carefully reasoned arguments and eloquent speeches. But the evidence is clear that verbal persuasion doesn't work, at least not with profound, persistent and resistant problems.

Personal experience is the gold standard for changing beliefs. Forget about arguments. Launch a pilot test, take people on a field trip, or otherwise immerse users in a safe version of the experience. As one IT manager put it, "I don't even try to persuade them. I put our virtualization software onto their desktops and have them use it. A week later, they've convinced themselves."

It's far more convincing to show than it is to tell. When personal experience isn't possible, use vicarious experience. Give users a demonstration, have them share their experiences, or take them to a location where they can see your solution in action. Vicarious experience is convincing because people see and hear the results for themselves, taking "trust me" out of the equation.

Marshall multiple sources of influence to make change inevitable. When you're trying to influence persistent and resistant behaviors, don't ask, "What's the least I can do to influence change?" Instead ask, "What is the most I can do to make absolutely sure people will change?"

Identify whether the barriers involve ability or motivation. Remember, the behavior will change only when the "Can I?" and "Will it be worth it?" questions are answered affirmatively. Attempting to motivate a person who feels unable to change will only create frustration -- for both of you. Likewise, working to light a fire under an unmotivated person is a fool's game.

The key to this diagnosis is not looking for the one crucial barrier, even though there may be one that stands out. The key is to address every single barrier to guarantee success.

Using these influence tools, you can solve any problem that can be affected through improved behavior -- your own behavior or the behavior of others -- from the simplest irritations to the most persistent, resistant and profound problems you can imagine.

Ability or motivation?

To remove barriers to change, you need to first understand whether the barriers relate to ability or motivation. Here are some examples of each:

Ability barriers

Personal: "I missed the training for this interface. I don't know how to use it."

Social: "I'm supposed to have a mentor to help me, but she's not in today."

Structural: "Every time I call up this interface, my Elbonian software crashes."

Motivation barriers

Personal: "I don't like using this new interface. It's just ugly."

Social: "I'd like to use it, but my boss told me to stick with the old interface for now."

Structural: "I'd like to use it, and my boss is encouraging me, but my pay is based on speed, and this new interface is slower."