Blog of the Gate 3 WorkClub: The Big But! – Overcoming the “behavior modification” hurdle.

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December 03, 2004

The Big But! – Overcoming the “behavior modification” hurdle.

One of the most heartening elements of this Gate 3 adventure has been the almost unanimous positive feedback from almost everyone who hears about it. “What a great idea, when are you opening one in..(enter name of a city or town).” And “It’s amazing no one has ever done this before”. And “this is really needed, there are so many people I know who could use it”. And “I would join but…”

And that’s where the problem is coming in – it’s always “someone else” who could use it – well very often. And there’s always one insurmountable problem that makes this a bad time to modify work patterns to include the WorkClub in you your work-style. So while interest is high, it feels like a lot of people are still standing on the sidelines, observing, watching, and waiting to see what happens. And we all know what happens if everyone becomes a spectator and no one wants to throw his or her hat into the ring.

So we’ve been thinking a lot lately about why this is and what we can do about it.

First off we’re tackling messaging – making it clearer what the tangible benefits are – i.e. improved productivity, rather than the implicit benefit of community and less tangible benefit of work/life balance. After all, we’re asking people to spend a very tangible asset, their money, on something they’ve never considered to actually be a need before.

Then we’re tackling pricing. We’ve already dramatically decreased the cost of membership, and now we’re considering and testing a new, and much simpler pricing structure for use of workstations that we believe will overcome a lot of resistance. (You’ll be hearing more about this shortly).

And of course it’s a numbers game, so we’re finally going to start some advertising campaigns in local media to increase awareness (which is already amazingly high through plain old buzz), and drive more people to come in for a tour. (This is an ad that will be running in the East Bay Express next week).

But the piece that I believe is going to be the most difficult to overcome, and that I’m most interested in understanding better, is plain old behavioral inertia. We all know how difficult a habit is to give up. We don’t often think about how difficult it is to acquire new (better) habits. This isn’t that different than the old problem of the new years resolutions to – eat better – work out more – improve sitting posture – be more loving - etc. We know its “good” to do, and even enjoy it once we get into it, but can’t always pull it off.

It’s even bigger than that though – modifying work patterns and building a positive and supportive work community is not just good for us, it’s downright new. And new is scary. What if we don’t do it right? What if people think it’s strange?

I’ve got some ideas about how to overcome this resistance. One is to make the offering SO compelling as to overcome resistance by overwhelming attraction, but that can only go so far. Another is to build such a great momentum and buzz so as to calm fear and overcome resistance.

But I have a feeling its mostly going to depend on getting everyone who is attracted to the IDEA to recognize that THEY are the compelling part of the equation. They, and all the other people like them who are intrigued by the infinite possibilities. That if they don’t experiment and play with the idea, then it will remain just that – an idea.

So we’re looking for pioneers, adventurous souls and anyone who want to work better to “throw your hats into the ring”. And bring a couple of friends with you. Try different things out. Play with alternatives. Experiment. Be willing for some things not to work. Have fun.

And I’m looking for input – strategies to help people overcome their behavioral inertia. Ways of reaching more people and moving them to action. I most certainly echo Liz Becker’s curiosity in her posting yesterday about “what others have done that has worked to claim new ground in their industries or businesses - specifically around marketing and sales activities”. Liz is one of Gate 3’s “pioneer” members. Maybe you have some thoughts for both Liz and me.

Posted by Neil Goldberg on December 03, 2004 | Permalink

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Posted by: asdf | December 04, 2009 at 06:13 PM

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December 03, 2004

The Big But! – Overcoming the “behavior modification” hurdle.

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