Breaking the Paradigm

How Do You Get People To See The Possibilities Of New Technologies?

I've been following a lot of the conversations about Twitter in the blogosphere/twittersphere and it is amazing the range of opinions.  There are those that see no value in it and feel it is a passing fad and then there are those that think it is the greatest technological innovation ever and then there are many opinions in between.  This all got me thinking about how people react to new technologies.

New ideas, new concepts, new technologies are scary.  They "upset our apple cart" as the old saying goes.  They represent change and change is difficult and messy.  When many are presented with something new they cannot fathom the possibilities.  How could this be used?  What can I do with it?  Their mind is closed to this way of thinking.  And yet there are others who stop and think about what possibilities are now open to them.

Our way of thinking, the paradigms we live by, are probably influenced by our education, our parents, our background, our culture and our life experiences.  But that doesn't seem (at least to me) to be the entire answer.  I've seen people with similar backgrounds even siblings vary widely on this.  Some are open to new possibilities and some cannot imagine beyond their current situation.

So that brings me to my questions.  There are two and the order is specific since the first influences the second.

1. Why do you think some people are open to seeing the possibilities to new ideas, new concepts, new technologies?

2. As we are often the purveyors of new technologies and concepts what is the best way to present these?

Please comment and let me know your thoughts.  I really would like some input on this.  Thanks. 

Photo by Cobber99

Comments

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Mike - Interesting questions and topic.

I believe the same as you that our education, how we were brought up, our culture and our life experiences can impact how we think about new technologies or ways we work. My experience with Twitter and others that use it are the same as yours - some people think it's a waste of time and others see great opportunity.

I believe some people are more inclined to try something out than others, particularly if our immediate friends and co-workers are trying it also. But I believe what it comes down to for many people is answering the question - what's in it for me. With so many available social networking tools and ways of connecting with people, you can't belong to all of them on an intimate level. So you pick what you think can fit how you work and you give it a try. It's much the same for me - I use Linkedin for professional contacts and Facebook for my more social contacts, although there is some crossover between the two. Twitter for me is more business than anything else as I look for interesting stories/links from the people that I follow more than answering the question what am I doing now.

The best way for me to present these to others is to show or explain my use case for each one. If it fits for them, maybe they will give it a try, maybe not. I don't try to "sell" them or beat them into submission, but just tell them how it works for me.

[Lui Sieh]

I agree with the previous poster in some of the major factors.

I would prefer discussing how we in corporate IT could assist the adoption of new or standard commercial technologies in the company that users wanted. I'm not closer to the answer but my sense boils down to this:
(a) background - some people are simply more literate in technology, gadgets and/or more curious about experimenting
(b) education - we in the IT side need to provide a learning platform - probably a face-to-face one to allow people to feel comfortable with technology. (c) followers - most people are followers in everything the do in life - technology no exception to the rule. So that may mean we demo it, use it ourselves, lead by example to help spark a "try-out" or interest by others.

Hopefully, over time when this process is repeated, people will be less fearful of technology, more curious about it and become an "educated" technology consumer which will help corporate IT folks so much.

Cheers,

[Mike]

Lui Sieh

I like your comments about providing a "learning platform" and the value of having the process repeated and its impact on people. These are good things to remember. Thank you for sharing.

Mike

[Mike]

I like the idea of a use case to address the WIIFM issue. Real life examples are always strong ways to make a point.

Mike

[Lui Sieh]

Thanks Mike.

I recently blogged about this idea that "An Educated Consumer is our Best Customer(R)", referring to your blog posting. This guiding principle from the SYMS Corp, discount clothing retailer, can help set a learning culture among users, service providers, that will facilitate cross-functional sharing and improve operational effectiveness, IMO.

Cheers,

[Mike]

Lui Sieh

I like that tag line. It is very apropos for this issue. Thanks for sharing it.

Mike