People are hired for their skills and experience, but they are fired for their "lack of fit." Lack of fit refers to an individual's inability or unwillingness to blend in with corporate culture. Corporate culture can be thought of as the combination of an organizations' definitions, relationships, and actual practices. Since the organization's informational taxonomy defines its definitions and relationships, I advocate simplifying this to [(CORPORATE CULTURE) = (TAXONOMY)+ (ACTUAL PRACTICES)]. Organizational change is stressful on people for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that either the taxonomy or actual practices are being forcibly changed, and the individual's status within the organization is at risk. On the other hand, organizational change provides new opportunities for advancement for those who may not have fit the existing culture all that well.
It really is amazing how culture norms influence perceptions. On my first day in Bermuda, I saw a gentleman walking down the street in a smart sport coat, tailored shirt, silk tie, black socks and expensive leather shoes. He was not, however, wearing trousers, and appeared to be walking down the street in his undershorts. He had a very professional and authoritative bearing, as he walked down the street. No one looked at him twice either, which seemed a bit odd. On the other hand, on Vashon Island where I grew up, there was a gentleman who periodically got drunk, put on his wife's robe and fuzzy slippers and spent the afternoon directing traffic with a toilet plunger. On a small island, as a friend once said, you've been married to, drunk with, or in a car crash with everyone else at one time or another. In the case of the Vashon Islander who directed traffic, no one paid him any mind because that was just what he sometimes did. He did, however, earn the honorary title of mayor which he wore with some pride. Had I done this I would have been criticized because it wasn't who I was in the Island's scheme of things.
So it was reasonable that this official looking gentleman received neither look nor comment from the other Bermudians, but then I saw another dressed more or less like him and then another. So, perhaps Bermuda has a shortage of Prozac? It turns out that these gentlemen were not wearing underpants but Bermuda Shorts. In this culture it is perfectly acceptable to wear tight little shorts that look like "too small" boxers along with otherwise formal attire. It frankly looks a little odd with a sport-coat and tie, but that is just my opinion.
Point being that in some places, when they say you must wear business attire, it may be possible to show up in your underwear. Culture greatly affects what is right and what is wrong.
So, when you are deploying SharePoint into your organization, it will (like all new technologies) bring about significant organizational change. People will feel as awkward as if they had come to work and forgotten to put on their pants. The only solution is training, training and more training when rolling out a fundamental technology like SharePoint.
In my experience it is not the hardware or software that will cause the most heartache but the peopleware. So, whatever you do, do not forget to train your end users so they can gracefully adapt to the new and improved technologies you offer them.
© 2008, Mark Ragar Schneider, All Rights Reserved
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