By Deidre Paknad, CEO and cofounder of Workboard
While organizations thrive on change, people often don’t. We don’t all embrace change at the same rate or pace (and a few even reject it outright). How new ideas are communicated can hinder or accelerate adoption. If you’re an innovator, it’s tempting to think that conveying your enthusiasm and excitement will accelerate others’ acceptance—it turns out, that won’t work most of the time.
What’s compelling to innovators and change agents isn’t compelling to more pragmatic and conservative people; innovators are often in the small minority. Effectively communicating the need or reason to change is an important skill for change agents and a big factor in innovation velocity.
To communicate more effectively, focus on your audience as much as your idea. Tune into where your audience is coming from before you try to persuade them where you want them to go—their starting point is as important as your destination.