The Valley of Despair: Avoiding a Strategy Execution Pitfall

When I read Crossing the Chasm, by Geoffrey Moore 15 years ago, it had a big impact on my understanding of how people accept technology.  Though it is a bit dated, it still rings true today. 

What stuck with me most is the concept of the technology adoption curve.  Basically, this states that your techies lead (or bleed) the way with new technology and visionaries/early adopters follow closely behind.  Things don't get really fun until the pragmatists and conservatives get on board (like my 92-year-old Grandmother who just started using CDs to listen to books on tape). At that point a technology is mainstream and society really begins to benefit.

So what does this have to do with getting better business results?  Good question.  There are two factors at work here:

1. Strategy Execution and Performance Management are basically "technologies." So is the Balanced Scorecard concept and so is Six Sigma.  These are technologies in the same way that chipping away at obsidian to make primitive tools is a technology. I'm not talking about software here, mind you. Just the application of these methodologies.
      
   
2. Thus, the technology adoption curve applies when we are trying to introduce this (sometimes new) Strategy Execution technology into an organization,  even though we are not letting people decide for themselves when to adopt (like my Grandmother eventually did with CDs). Usually we (the internal drivers) are commanding, encouraging, and/or insisting that they adopt the technology for the good of the organization.

In fact, when we look at large organizations over time we do see similar adoption patterns to the technology adoption curve.  While an organization can have significant small wins and performance improvements early on, massive institutionalized improvements come later in the adoption curve.

Since we are not letting people decide on their own if they should adopt this technology, there is an inverse curve that represents individual stress and fear of change.  Here is a good overview of this effect and how to deal with it.  It's Six Sigma focused but exactly the same concepts and techniques apply to holding together your performance management implementation.

I like the simplified graphic Dan Edmonds-Waters uses to illustrate this concept.  Both individuals AND the implementation team often go through these phases:

1. Uninformed Bliss- "Wow, this performance management and strategy stuff seems interesting.  It would be great to get everyone on the same page...."
   
   
2. The Valley of Despair- "Geeze, I didn't know it would be so much work... Who is looking at this stuff anyway... How am I supposed to pick goals and targets... Am I going to get in trouble if my measure is red...?"
      
   
3. Continuous Improvement- "OK, now I see where the problems are.  I know what to work on and manage to to get better results"

The trick is to get people through the valley as quickly as possible.  Shepherd them through with your rod and your staff.  Comfort them.  Guide them. How do you do all these things?  Keep checking The Glue.