Discussion on:

The self-fulfilling prophesy: "It won't do any good"

I think that you need to first try to understand the problem you are facing and come up with some possible solutions.
If you approach reasonable people with a possible solution and be open to other solutions yourself you have a good chance of effecting things. If you are just complaining it most likey will not go too far.

Ah, what if the people you are dealing with are not reasonable? You can still try but go slowly and show how a solution may help this person as well.

If you are not making headway you can always try to implement some small portion of your solution that you have controll over. Example: You feel that if everyone documented there servers it would make your job easier. Everyone says that they are too busy, well make some time to document the server you control or create a basic documentation template.

The key is to focus your energy on defining the problem and working toward a solution.

If nothing else you generally will feel better for trying.

Solutions are great and I'm not ever trivialising the need to make sure you have some ideas about how to actually solve a problem.

But knowing the problem and having ideas isn't always going to get the resources to change.

But if you really want to get your suggestion or change or alteration or whatever heard and made, then what you need to do is focus on the WIN.

And not your win. The person that has the power to pay for / authorise / order the change. Their win.

Ever wonder why some people ALWAYS get what they want? Always get their change prioritised above others? Typically it's because they have worked out the 'win' for the person who needs to authorise it.

Sometimes that 'win' is as simple as their friendship and the person will just favour them because of that.

Sometimes because they have worked out how their suggestion will either improve the decision-maker's life, or remove risk from it.

So, instead of focussing on why the change will be good for all, or good for the company - find out the personal reason why the change will either increase bonuses, mean more time at home with the kids, less headaches from complaints etc. Whatever it is - if you speak in the language that talks about the win for the person, your chances of getting the nod are immeasurably increased.

Think of it as "what it is, what it does or how to do it, and what it does for you".

What it is - this is the change you are promoting. "I suggest we have a better backup facility".

What it does or how to do it: "that would mean that everyone's pc is automatically backed up every night and we reduce the chance of losing all the data like we did a few times before".

What's in it for them: "And your boss will never scream at you again for losing all the letters to that client like last time"

(Apologies for the trivial nature of the example but I hope the point comes across).

If you had endless budget and resources it wouldn't matter. You could do what you want. But the reality is that with contended and competitive resource allocation you have to speak in the language that the decision maker speaks.

And, at a fundamental level, that means to appeal to either their self-interest or their fear.

It always helps to find out exactly how your boss is remunerated or targetted.

Becuase, as a generalisation, the opposite is more often true than not: if you cannot determine a personal WIN for the decision-maker, either find another problem or wait until you can. Because in all likelihood they wont actually care about it too much. So to pursue it will make you look like the complainer that you don't really want to be, as well as frustrating the crap out of you that no-one seems to listen to your brilliant ideas.

But what if the problem is of a more personal nature? What if the problem is that the decision maker wants to make all the decisions, but expects you to do all the legwork? My manager wants to have the final say about all the large improvements we make to the office. In this particular example, we'll use the sign out front of the shop. The sign that has been there for the last 25 years is showing its age, and has birds living in it. It needs to go. So the boss tells me to call sign companies and get three quotes for having the sign replaced. So I go and get three quotes, and the boss asks "Why didn't they send me a little drawing of what the new sign will look like?" What new sign? Oh, he's changed his mind. He wants the existing sign torn down, and a new one, in a new location erected. So now, because he didn't tell me what he wanted in the first place, I have to crawl back to the suppliers, my credibility in tatters, and ask them to do MORE work to provide a quote on a job they have a 2/3 chance of NOT getting. This has been going on since May, and the old sign is STILL there...

I've heard the saying lots of times "No harm in trying" like the author says. Well actually there can be a lot of harm depending on the organization and your approach.

If approached properly most organizations are good about how they handle issues brought to their attention; but I've also seen good people tagged as "troublemakers" for doing this - even when it was handled professionally. Once that happens it's a label that is very difficult to shake.

I've also seen bad timing put people on the wrong side of management in an organization that is normally very welcoming to bringing issues forward.

I'm not saying the author is wrong, but before you stick your neck out, make sure you are aware of the political climate and timing before you bring forward problems in your organization. Sometimes it really can do harm.

"I am only one, but I am still one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do. " ---Helen Keller

More of her wisdom can be found here:
http://en.thinkexist.com/quotes/Helen_Keller

Yet another witty post from Toni.