This document summarizes Scott Berkun's presentation on how progress happens. It discusses that change is difficult because it requires work, thinking, and puts people at risk. However, change often happens through power, persuasion, and intuition. Progress typically occurs through a process of piloting an idea, showing success, finding allies, asking for more resources while staking one's reputation, and then repeating this process. The document provides tactics for both individuals and managers to drive change, such as hiring for change-mindedness, encouraging failures, and providing cover fire for new ideas.

1. How progress happens:
the down and dirty truth
March 19th 2009 Scott Berkun
O’Reilly Media Webcast www.scottberkun.com

3. Hi. I’m Scott.
9 years @ MSFT (1994-2003)
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IE 1.0 -> 5.0, Windows, MSN
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Since 2003: Author / Speaker
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Bestsellers:
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Making things happen, (O’Reilly 2008)
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The myths of Innovation, (O’Reilly, 2007)
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www.scottberkun.com
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Blog, essays, podcasts, videos
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10. There is no change until someone stakes their
reputation on doing something different
You can not make change without power

11. How to understand any innovation:
▪ Ask any of the following questions
What did they risk?
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What mistakes did they make?
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How many failures did the endure?
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How much time did it take?
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If you want to be an innovator, take your
own inventory of what you are willing to do

14. Agenda
▪ Change
▪ Tactics you should know
▪ Tactics you can use

15. Move your mouse
to the other side of
your desk

16. Move your desk

17. We fear change
▪ We do not like Change because:
It creates work
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It requires thinking
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We have to talk and listen to each other
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It raises questions we’d prefer to avoid
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It puts us at risk of embarrassment / death
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18. Maslow’s hierarchy

21. Traditions protect against change
We codify rules and mythologize their origins
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Binds society together
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“I’ve always done X”
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“I was raised to do Y”
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“My family has done Z for generations”
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▪ Doing something solely because you’ve
done it before is less than smart

22. Idea Killers (from The Myths of
Innovation)
We’ve tried that before
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We’ve never done that before
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That’s not how we do things here
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That’s not in our budget
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Customers will not like this (without asking)
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Management will never go for it
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Reference: http://www.scottberkun.com/blog/2006/idea-killers-
ways-to-stop-ideas/

23. We seek change when
▪ Confronted with failure
▪ Witness peers succeeding through other
means
▪ Are unhappy
▪ Are bored to tears
▪ Confidence in change is greater than
commitment to the status-quo

25. A new scientific truth does not triumph by
convincing its opponents and making them see the
light, but rather because its opponents eventually
die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar
with it.
-Max Plank
Quoted by Kuhn,
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

26. Agenda
▪ We fear change!
▪ Facts you should know
▪ Tactics you can use

27. REVOLUTION

29. POWER

30. GRASS ROOTS

33. Agenda
▪ We fear change!
▪ Facts you should know
▪ Tactics you can use

34. How progress happens
▪ Power: What changes can you mandate?
▪ Persuasion: Whose support can you earn?
▪ Intuition: What can you anticipate?
▪ Case Study: Chester Carlson & XEROX

35. Playbook for Individuals
Pilot
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Show success
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Find allies
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Ask for more resources, Stake reputation
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Repeat
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(Coup!)
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▪ Entrepreneurship is a similar process

36. Playbook for managers
Pavlov lives! (We follow rewards)
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Hire for change (Age & Psychology)
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Accept some ideas you do not like
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Encourage interesting failures
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Only you can provide cover fire
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37. Agenda
People make change, not technologies
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We fear change!
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Facts: Revolution, Power, Grass roots
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Tactics: Pilot & Repeat, Cover fire
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38. Photo Credits
http://www.sxc.hu/photo/577019 - Parking meter
http://www.flickr.com/photos/93455043@N00/3106852634/ Laundromat
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shelleybrunt/2303234043/ - Change machine
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gauri_lama/2744830499/ - candy machines
http://www.sxc.hu/photo/840748 - cash register
http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1140453 - Grass
http://www.sxc.hu/photo/793340 - Dandelion seeds
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Conf_dead_chancellorsville.jpg dead soldiers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_revolutions_and_rebellions - Reference
http://www.sxc.hu/photo/407416 - Cover arrow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Povoden_2002_hlasna_treban.jpg - Flood

40. Questions?
Scott Berkun
www.scottberkun.com