Further Thoughts on Mark Twain, User Adoption Specialist

This is the second in a five part series, originally published on the Tri Tuns blog.

In the last blog I told you how I recently I came across a page of Mark Twain quotes and in reading them I realized that the insights and teachings of a man who died decades before modern information systems were even conceived may hold some of the greatest lessons for how to deliver successful technology adoption programs.

So in this second installment of our look at Mark’s words in relation to assumptions and learning as they relate to IT user adoption programs.

When examined in the context of various aspects of effective user adoption programs, Mark shows us some of the common mistakes and misplaced assumptions that often plague many IT projects.

As I asked previously — and will ask throughout this series — how can you use Mark’s insights to deliver a more effective user adoption program?

USER ADOPTION ASSUMPTIONS, SKILLS, EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE

Many people have opinions about how to drive effective user adoption, but far fewer have the experience, knowledge and ‘battle scars’ in successfully driving and sustaining adoption to truly be experts. There are any many popular myths about user adoption that actually harm your user adoption efforts. Some of our favorites include:

• assuming that communication & training is the only/best tool for driving user adoption
• telling people “what’s in it for me” (WIIFM)
• believing people will “have no choice” but to use the system

When you are considering all of the advice that is out there, ask yourself if the source truly has the right knowledge and experience to know that about which they speak.

IN MARK TWAIN’S WORDS

• “If you hold a cat by the tail you learn things you cannot learn any other way.”

• “Education is the path from cocky ignorance to miserable uncertainty.”

• “Education consists mainly in what we have unlearned.”

None of us know what we don’t know, but here are a few tools to help illuminate your situation:

• Take our free User Adoption Challenge to see what specific user adoption issues you face on your IT project.
• Read our free eBook on avoiding implementation failure (specifically CRM), and steps to achieve success.
  
  
• Read about a new way to define IT success.

Or, contact me to learn more!