Ginger Shafer asks, "Have you ever wanted to get a new idea across to
someone who doesn't seem to know why it's important to "get" the new idea?
As you know, it's better to express the idea in a language that person
will understand rather than use the "new" language. We accept change more
readily if we can understand it in terms we're already familiar with. The
consultant's challenge is not to "verbally finesse" the client, rather
find the language that communicates something new and different in terms
the client will UNDERSTAND...leading them to understand for themselves so
it becomes their idea."
Yes. Frequently. And sometimes desparately. I have no issue with
meeting the client (customer, student, what have you) wherever they are
and guiding them along a shared journey toward where you believe they need
to be, realizing that the ultimate destination may evolve during the
journey. Indeed, I believe there is no other way to meet them! What I do
have an issue with is figuring out how "...to use 'their' language to
describe 'my' ideas in order to make them think they thought them up...."
If the client organization's culture is such that an idea won't be adopted
unless the client thinks he/she thought it up, then the first change that
needs to be transplanted into his or her little head is that good ideas
can also come from elsewhere. That is what I mean by the change in
thinking must be genuine, and not merely a by-product of clever
consulting. If the process Ginger describes is followed, it leads not only
to the client's adopting new ideas, but to the consult's enrichment as
well. Regards, Ron Dickson
-- Ron Dickson <Ron_Dickson@ccm.ch.intel.com>