Organizational influence for knowledge workers
Two timeless sales models for effecting change
As knowledge workers, most of us don’t think of ourselves as salespeople.
Maybe we should.
In the past, I’ve written about three scenarios where software engineers could benefit from knowing sales. As much as we hate to admit it, creating organizational influence and leveraging it to bring about change boils down to being good at sales.
In that same post, I also introduced the Five Levels of Awareness model for thinking about sales. It’s an old model — from the 1960s — which has surprisingly held its own through the decades. How is that possible? While technology has changed profoundly, human nature has essentially stayed the same.
If you have found yourself hitting a metaphorical brick wall, or found that your pleas have fallen on deaf ears, then this model can help explain why.
Another model for organizational change that I’ve written on is Response Modes from Strategic Selling. By contrast, this model can help explain when your efforts are thwarted in the eleventh hour by someone who doesn’t think that your change will be beneficial. You might think that everyone doesn’t need to be “on board” with your idea; if they don’t see your initiative yielding any change, why would they expend energy to stop you? This model explains why.
I have found both the Five Levels of Awareness and Response Modes models helpful in deciphering peoples’ motivations, and the impediments to organizational change. I hope that you find them useful too. If you have other mental models that have been useful in this vein, please drop a comment below. I’d love to hear about them.
