Disclaimer: This is a rare work related post. I don’t usually write much about that but figured I would give it a try. If geek stuff bores you, well I guess you are screwed.

I’m in consulting services at Microsoft. That means I help customers use our products to solve their problems. Often they buy a new thing, aren’t sure the best way to use it, and then I or one of my colleagues come in and try to help. (Sort of obvious description of IT consulting I guess)

Sometimes in spite of the company deciding to invest in our products, then signing a services contract to get me there (let’s face it, those things cost money) I find that some folks that I talk to aren’t exactly excited about the changes that I represent. No surprises there, lots of people fear change. To some it represents a worry that they might lose relevance or influence. Many folks spend careers building their specific skills, and can resist hearing that a skill they fought hard to learn is no longer relevant. Or resistance to learning a new skill, either because they don’t want to invest in themselves or any number of reasons.

I myself have had those thoughts at various points in my career. Learning can be hard. Time and energy are ever more scarce resources. Some companies do not place an emphasis on employee growth and so do not allow for training time/budget. Employees are required to learn on their own time, or are not afforded courses and/or time to grow. It’s an unrealistic expectation, but one that persists at some companies.  Microsoft is excellent in this regard to their own employees, since for obvious reasons the source of some of this churn is driven by the company itself (due to many reasons; market, security, industry, etc.).  Some companies fail to identify to real costs of employee churn (and then costs of acquisition, replacement), job satisfaction, etc. that these practices can cause.

These reasons do not make change any more palatable or attractive for folks that aren’t excited about it, however.  So I find sometimes I am left trying to find ways to encourage, sway, or otherwise convince some customers to do things my way.  I’m not going to try to have a new take on the literally thousands of management books that try to solve these problems, I’m absolutely not qualified for that.  (and man those books can be dry, amirite?)

I have found that approaching these issues with the knowledge that all of this really comes from fear is one way that (even if not completely successful) moves the conversation forward.  Empathy is the thing that can swing the mood around to being open, uncross the arms, and have people lean in again.