While on a flight to Christchurch today, I decided that it was high time (that’s a pun) that I read a book which I had downloaded onto my iPad some time ago. Michael Sampson’s book, User Adoption Strategies – moving second wave people, is so far an excellent read.  I have only covered the first two chapters, but what he has to say really makes good sense.

So often I have seen companies put in place new technologies and say to the users “here it is, now use it”.
Nobody likes change, especially when there is no strategy for adoption of the change, whether it be a change in IT systems or a change in process. There are many reasons for this and the business need to consider ways to make any transitional change easy with buy-in from all parties.

Having a “geek” background. I know how easy it is to see how a new technology can help solve what I may perceive to be a problem. I so easily jump on board and embrace the technology, while struggling to put into words the value for someone else. As Michael describes ‘first wave’ users, I felt that he was talking about me.

Michael Sampson has used a technology agnostic approach, for which I feel helps to keep his message out of the technology gutter (so to speak). His straight forward approach is likely to be understood by anyone in business leadership and decision makers.