[ale] Notes from Jun 19th meeting

[Stephen R. Blevins]

Gentlemen,
When I was employed in an organization undergoing extensive change (i.e. 
the Bell System during and after Divestiture, in 1984), those guiding 
the change explained *some* of the challenges we would be facing. Among 
them were:
1) Under a "new" scheme, the first thing people do is to see if they can 
still do the things they are used to doing to get their needs met.
a) They are first intrigued by what did not change and is still the same.
b) Then they begin to notice what's different, and what adjustment they 
need to make.
2) Only after they are "sufficiently satisfied" with 1) do they begin to 
explore *new* possibilities.

I've noticed this about myself just changing OS's. Some people never 
make it past 1b). I posit it will happen to any "teacher" and/or 
"administrator" population we encounter.

Just my $.02

Stephen R. Blevins
srblevi at worldnet.att.net



Geoffrey wrote:
> Jeff Lightner wrote:
>   
>> Well one difference is that what they gain is the fact that they are NOT
>> "paying".
>>     
>
> The teachers (users) don't pay either way, so they'll be focused on 
> getting their job done.  Understand, this is not the 'Printshop' issue 
> I'm referring to.  What I'm saying is, you can not ignore how they 
> currently get the job done.
>
> If I haul garbage for a living and drive a garbage truck, are you going 
> to sell me a Ferrari to replace it?  After all, it's faster, more 
> comforable and has a fantastic sound system.
>
>   
>> For people with unlimited budgets this may not seem like a selling point
>> but I guarantee you it is for others.
>>     
>
> All too often I've seen software/applications sold to the people who 
> sign the checks, without consulting the users.  This approach eventually 
> fails.
>
>   
>> People are certainly resistant to change - it is the first thing they
>> teach in any management class. However, change DOES occur all the time
>> even for "paying" clients and it often has nothing to do with what is
>> "better" or "offers the same" functionality as what existed before but
>> rather who is making the decision.   Getting teachers on board for a
>> change won't help much if for example the Superintendent of schools is a
>> MicroSloth fan.
>>     
>
> Exactly.  Selling a solution to the Superintendent without the buy in of 
> the end user is a long term losing solution at well.
>
>   
>> Nobody has suggested ignoring the issue completely but rather focusing
>> on the "selling points" of open source rather than the possible
>> downside.  That IS something one would do with a "paying" client.  More
>> than once in my career I've seen a PHB choose a product due to vaporware
>> promises over what we already had installed despite objections from
>> those who could see what we were giving up.
>>     
>
> I'm not suggesting that you ignore the selling points either, but you 
> can not simply ignore 'how they currently do business.'
>
>