Make It Easy
The biggest secret to changing behavior or getting your boss to say “yes”: make it easy.
So many of us lay out masterful proposals and presentations on why our idea should be supported or adopted and how we can make it happen.
But rather than get people interested, we often overwhelm them. It’s not that they dislike our concept. They dislike how complicated it seems.
Warning signs in their brains go off, “Danger. Too complicated. So much work. Overwhelming. Disengage.”
Neuroscientists have found that humans are hardwired to choose the easiest way. The greater the effort to do something, the more likely we won’t do it. The easier we perceive it to be, the more likely we will do it.
Why do we shop on Amazon? Easy to find anything. Zappos? Easy returns. Being more likely to work out when the gym is nearby? Easy to get to.
In fact, the easier it is for customers to do business with you, the more likely they’ll become loyal customers. The Customer Effort Scale is 12 percent more predictive of customer loyalty than customer satisfaction.
What does this mean for Rebels?
Improve the small things. Make what’s working work better. Don’t be seduced by focusing on big transformation initiatives. They often go nowhere, while many small, easy changes add up. All-the-time small changes also create a culture where adapting is the norm and the pain and stress of "dum de dum dum” change is minimized.
Find things people at work can stop doing. Yay, more time. Easier day.
Similarly, look at how you can make things at work easier for people, from co-workers and customers to suppliers and constituents. People will help and support you when you’re doing something that will make their lives easier and less stressful.
Know your boss’ budget authority limit and propose ways to get started that fall within that limit. If they can approve your idea without having to go to their boss, you make it easier for them to say yes.
Find an easy first step to gauge interest in your idea. 15-minute conversations with individuals to get their thoughts? Ten minutes at the next staff meeting? A three-minute survey for department members? Short time commitments are easy. An hour is not. A conversation is easy. Listening to a 20-slide Powerpoint presentation is not.
Suggest a 90-day trial of an idea. If it doesn’t work, not too much time or money has been invested. Easy to test, easy to assess, and easy to stop if it’s not hitting metrics.
Include “how easy is it” on employee satisfaction surveys. The things that can really suck our souls at work are the stupid, small things that make it so damn hard to do our jobs. What’s taking way more time than it should? What should be easy that isn't? People want their bosses to focus on this little stuff; it’s the stuff that makes us insane. (And these are the low-hanging fruit for Rebels can tackle.)
Someone recently asked how I managed “up” to my bosses and clients. Simple. I made their professional lives easy.
