My Kind of Stupid

I see people approaching problems like this a lot: someone sees a better solution and thinks that everyone would do it if they just understood that it was better. They give a presentation, and then they get frustrated because everyone doesn’t immediately jump on the new solution.

It’s not because it’s not better (though maybe it’s not! Other folks have different problems than you, so it really might not be that much better. But let’s assume it really is better for everyone). Is it actually solving everyone’s problems? Or is it just solving a particular team’s problems? The latter is nice, nobody would complain about that, but they can’t drop everything to accommodate it. They have real priorities and needs that they are working toward. You have to trust that each person and team knows what’s best for themselves, better than you do.

If it’s really important that everyone buy in, you’ve got to get an advocate, figure out how the team can fit it into their schedule, and make it super easy. Work directly with each team so you understand their particular needs as they implement your solution, and so you can help them and take some of the load off them. This takes a lot more time, but will build trust and relationships that are necessary to maintain the new solution going forward.