Why talk about deploying
Project Management Software?

n  1999 PMI survey study MS Project ranked as most popular PM tool, lowest in overall satisfaction and lower than MS Word as most frequently used PM tool

n  “Less than 30% of all change efforts actually succeed in meeting the expectations of key stakeholders.”
                Conquering Organizational Change by Pierrie Mourier & Martin Smith

“… the most frequent, but often overlooked cause of implementation problems is ignoring people issues.”
                                from a 5 year study by Cavanaugh Leahy & Co. 1999

Successfully Deploying PM Software

n  Missionaries, the gospel of productivity and Cannibals

n  Isaac Newton, Thomas Kuhn and the Deployment Wall

n  Deployment as PM and the Technology Usage ladder

n  Change Management and the Push-Pull leadership model

Missionaries, Cannibals
and the gospel of productivity

n  Early adopters as missionaries for improved productivity

n  Missionaries eaten by cannibals within first six months

n  Most people adopt software if easy and mandated, not to be more productive

n  The BIG SECRET ABOUT DEPLOYING SOFTWARE–
“it’s not productivity, it’s a combination of change management and leadership”

Isaac Newton’s (1642-1727) perspective on software deployment

n  1^st Law: 
An object maintains its state of uniform motion unless it is acted upon by an external unbalanced force.

n  Translation: The Power of Habit
People maintain and are at rest in their patterns unless activated by an external “unbalanced” (i.e. judged to be not-fair) force

Isaac Newton’s (1642-1727) perspective on software deployment

n  2^nd Law:
The acceleration of an object varies directly as the external unbalanced force applied to it and inversely as its mass.

n  Translation:  Implementation Speed
How fast users adopt new software and incorporate change will vary directly with

                  (a) how much force is applied and

                  (b) how much resistance to change exists/remains.

Isaac Newton’s (1642-1727) perspective on software deployment

n  3^rd Law:
For every action force there is an opposite and equal reaction force in the opposite direction on the object exerting the action force

n  Translation:  Push Back
For every new software deployment effort, there will be an opposite and equal force applied to the change effort… the question is only who will persevere

Isaac Newton “take-aways”

1. Software adoption is driven by an outside force upsetting familiar habits, not intrinsic evolvement
2. The speed of software adoption is dependent upon level of force behind the change effort (including insistence from above) and the effectiveness of resistance removal
3. Resistance is part of the experience, not an alarm signal

Thomas Kuhn (1962)
“Structure of Scientific Revolution”

n  Paradigms Rule:
One’s paradigm predetermines the conclusions about reality, and new facts that don’t fit an existing paradigm are ignored

n  Translation:  Rejection Response
Introducing new software into a person’s work system that is already defined by a paradigm of customary processes, steps and preferred tools – will evoke a rejection response

n  “Most people when confronted with either changing their mind or proving why they don’t have to… get busy on the proof.”
                                                                                                John Galbraith

Thomas Kuhn (1962)
“Structure of Scientific Revolution”

n  Crises & Paradigm Shifts
Paradigm shifts seldom occur as soon as a new paradigm is invented, but rather only when the old one is shown to be inadequate

n  Translation:  “Shake it Up”
Introducing new software changes paradigms, the success of which is dependent upon proving the “old” is inadequate

The Software Deployment Wall

Proof of Inadequacy

Active Push Back & Resistance

The Inertia Power of Habit and Paradigm