#17: How I influenced a $1B change initiative, as an outsider

I am going to share with you 3 steps to positively influence others by sharing an example from my work last week.

Whether we like it or not, we are constantly trying to influence each other at work. Designers strive to infuse creativity into business strategies, while business professionals push for efficiency and scale from product teams. We all want a seat at the table… and if that other team just understood how valuable we were!

Mastering the art of positive influence not only fosters trust and admiration but also mitigates conflicts, paving the way for inclusivity and cooperation.

Unfortunately, many leaders find themselves without the cherished partnerships they desire.

‘man-splaining’ never helps you build trust

There are many other reasons why leaders fail to have the influence they seek:

• Failure to cultivate genuine empathy for other teams or departments.
• Succumbing to defensiveness and perpetuating a negative cycle of conflict.
• Relying solely on persuasive pitches, neglecting the nuances of genuine connection.

Luckily there are ways to overcome these problems and shift yourself during a meeting or workshop to influence internal partners to increase trust and collaboration.

Allow me to illustrate this with an example from my experiences this week…

3 steps to influence others

The $1B change mgmt workshop

Last week, I flew to Europe for a 4-day workshop to work on a $1B change initiative with a line of business at a Fortune 50 company.

Our objective? Nothing short of revolutionizing the work processes across multiple teams spanning business, product, technology, design, finance, and beyond. This is the first time this has ever been attempted in the company’s history.

My mission: To instill in business stakeholders the profound value of an exploratory, discovery-driven approach to work.

Here's how I influenced others during the workshop, as an outsider, in three strategic steps.

Step 1: Speak their language

To sway business stakeholders toward embracing a more inventive, discovery-centric methodology, I knew I had to tailor my message to resonate with their priorities.

While phrases like "creativity," "human-centered design," and "discovery" may spark enthusiasm among design circles, they will fall flat in the boardroom. Instead, I reframed my pitch in terms that spoke directly to their concerns: profitability, cost reduction, and risk mitigation.

I translated my usual design-centric language to statements like “This is a structured risk management process to make sure we are connecting business value to customers by de-risking solutions along the way”

My design friends just rolled their eyes. My business friends are salivating.

By articulating our process as a structured risk management endeavor aimed at aligning business objectives with customer needs, I earned their attention and appreciation. One key stakeholder even remarked, "Thank you - that was one of the best ways I have heard ‘discovery’ been described. I get it."

To be fair, it was not the best way to describe discovery but it was the best way to describe discovery for this audience.

Step 1 accomplished: I established rapport and credibility by speaking their language fluently.

Skills for you to practice: Immerse yourself in their world by studying their documents and engaging in conversations. Become an adept translator, bridging the gap between their lexicon and yours.

Step 2: Understand the problem-to be solved

On Day 3 of the workshop, tension crackled in the air as skeptical questions were directed at me:

• “We do discovery already. Isn’t this just duplication?”
• “Do we need this at step 4 in our process?”

In the heat of discussions, it became evident that clarity on the problem at hand was sorely lacking. Rather than providing vague or defensive responses like “Well - it depends!” or folding under pressure, I pivoted to a stance of genuine curiosity. By delving deeper into their questions, I uncovered the underlying issues and needs driving their skepticism.

Here are specific questions I asked during the discussion I moderated when I was suddenly put on the spot:

• “What’s the question behind the question?”
• “Based on my description earlier, what is the same about your discovery work? what is different?”
• Can you give me an example of where discovery has gone wrong? Where has it gone right?

Here is what I learned from reframing their question:

1. Identified instances where product teams in the organization were circumventing business, missing out on crucial insights
2. Uncovered friction stemming from business leaders giving teams solutions to execute and design teams pushing for problems to solve
3. Recognized the distinction between analysis-based and experiment-based discovery, paving the way for collaborative problem-solving.

By reframing the conversation around shared challenges rather than individual grievances, we fostered a spirit of collaboration and mutual understanding. We started pointing our finger at the reframed problem, instead of each other.

Skills for you to practice: Practice your discussion moderation skills, specifically activating the Questioner and Clairvoyant facilitation personas.

Step 3: Drive your POV

Armed with a deep understanding of their perspective and the challenges at hand, I seized the opportunity to articulate a compelling perspective. With trust established and insights gained, I leveraged storytelling and evidence to advocate for a discovery-driven paradigm.

I had everyone using our new shared language of “de-risking the process.” I told stories about the value of an experiment-based approach to problem solving. I admitted the issues and work still needed by some of my teams.

They could hear my message because I built that trust and understood their grievances.

As a result, we departed the workshop with a strengthened relationship and a better understanding of each other’s way of working. Mission accomplished (and a hell of a lot more work to do). 

Skills for you to practice: Clarify your desired outcome and gather persuasive narratives and evidence to support your perspective. Lead with conviction and authenticity to inspire action and drive change.

Practice makes perfect

Even if you're not quite ready to dive into steps 2 and 3, there's no better time than now to embark on step 1.

Whose rapport do you aim to elevate this week? Begin by immersing yourself in their lexicon, speaking their language. It's the first step towards forging stronger connections and fostering understanding.