Six Steps To Getting Your New Idea Accepted

When you introduce a "new thing," you are at the end of your thought process (which may have begun months ago).

 Everyone else is at the beginning. They can't get where you are without you sharing your full process including your own apprehensions.

Isn't that what you need in order to commit to someone else's idea?

 
First, Do This

1. Tell people what you want to accomplish.

2. Tell them what led you to believe it's important to them and to you.

3. Tell them your own struggles along the way.

4. Tell them how long you've been thinking about it.

5. Tell them you are committed to it.

6. Tell them your plan for helping them be able to do "it."

Then, give people a reasonable amount of time to:

• Think about it

• Question it

• Be uncomfortable with the newness of it

• Begin to accept it

• Be involved with how it will be  implemented.
  

We simply need to give people enough time to catch up with where we've been.

Comments

[Jennifer V. Miller]

Steve,

This is such a simple, yet powerful concept! When I work with executives, I remind them of this very fact all the time-- THEY have had weeks, months to get used to the change being proposed. The people they're pitching it to have not.

One other thing I always add (even though they don't like to hear it) is that they also had a hand in creating the change. Therefore, they had some measure of control over it. As they move further towards the frontline of the organization, the less "control" the constituency feels over the change.

[Richard Townsend]

** Finally set up a system to see that the desired behavioral changes or new way of doing things becomes an ingrained work habit or operational procedure. Old habits die hard!

Ric www.orglearn.org

[Raj Menon]

Steve, always a plessure to read your blog posts. I just wanted to highlight to all your readers that #2 is probably the most important. I would rename it to "What is the value for you and all those involved?". Accepting an idea would boil down to that simple fact. If you can define/show/help visualize the value of the idea... you have won your audience.

[Steve Roesler]

Jennifer

I'm pleased that you added that element of control that is often forgotten. That's really the underlying issue in all aspects of "change": the need to feel some sense of control over our own destiny, even something as simple as changing start and stop times or meeting dates.

Your clients are fortunate to have you highlight that element.

[Steve Roesler]

Richard: Indeed.

[Steve Roesler]

Raj:

You've got me thinking of the importance of stopping at #2 for a while and saying:

"I've told you why I think it's important. Let's talk about how you see it."

When that happens:

a. One can get a quick diagnosis of how people are actually experiencing the idea

b. The people involved can become involved and begin, early on, to refine the "new thing." This allows for a sense of control and more often than not leads to some good thinking.

When we hear someone say, "OK, how will we do this?" it's a signal that the "what" has achieved enough acceptance to start implementation.

Thanks, Raj.

[Jim Morgan]

All of your points are valid, Steve. But as teacher of persuasion, I think you're headed in a more vital direction though Raj's comment and your follow-up. In my master's thesis I quoted an advertising expert who said, "Many communicators do an excellent job of showing why they personally believe or accept the proposition, but they fail to show why the receivers should believe or accept it." Influencing people to accept a new idea has to start with the people, not the idea, or your reasons for liking it. But your steps are important parts of the larger process.

[Wally Bock]

Congratulations! This post was selected as one of the five best independent business blog posts of the week in my Three Star Leadership Midweek Review of the Business Blogs.

http://blog.threestarleadership.com/2010/07/07/7710-midweek-look-at-the-independent-business-blogs.aspx

Wally Bock