You should now have a small number of very well thought out, and well socialized, ideas to begin testing in your work area. Going from talking about change to actually doing something different may seem to you a natural next step. But do not underestimate the challenge of getting others to actively engage in this transition.
Influence is the skill of moving others from thought to action.
Change is always a bit scary. Change that has been born of thinking differently can be even scarier. Furthermore, change requires that others supply discretionary effort; that is, expend some of their energy, commit to doing something other than what they usually do. Therefore, the goals of influence in this situation are to increase comfort and elicit commitment.
If you have done a good job engaging others in the thinking process all along, it might not take much to influence them to engage in testing a new idea. If you have been postponing engagement with some key parties, or if you have been simply keeping them informed and have not asked much of them yet, you may need lots of attention to the skill of influence. In any event, it is hard to imagine a successful innovation that does not require some skill in influencing others to act.
If you have not already done so, we strongly suggest that you explore the Influence 101 section in MI2-U. There, you will be introduced to several important principles from the psychology of influence.
For more extensive knowledge and background, we suggest that you take the complete Influence course on the MI2 website.
A very good overview of the research on influence can be found in Dr. Robert Cialdini's award-winning book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Revised Edition (2007, Harper Collins).
Finally, the tools in this section provide some focused and practical advice to help you improve your chances of influencing others to move with you from talk to action. We suggest that you take them in the sequence offered.