Ask who really has the power

Daniele Catalanotto
Aug 10, 2022
A Service Design Principle to help you start projects the right way.

Imagine this. You are a child, and you’d like to go to the movies tonight. You speak with your big brother about it, and you convince him. Awesome. Will you be able to go to the movies tonight? No. Mom doesn’t want.

That seems like a logical mistake. You should have talked to your mom. She is the person who has the real power, not your big brother, even if he is older than you.

Strangely enough, that’s something we often do at work.

We often spend a lot of time convincing the wrong people.

Bringing change in an organisation or a new service to life isn’t an easy thing. It takes a lot of convincing.

So before you even start with a new idea, try to find out who really has the power to break the status quo in your organisation. Also, try to understand who are the people who have the power, behind the influential people. Who are the influencers within the organisation that no one thinks typically about?

Once you know who has the power for the change, you can then adapt the way you explain your great idea to fit the way these people like to be convinced.

Thanks to Daniel Tuitt who inspired this Service Design Principle by sharing his own experience of working as a Service Designer on the Co-creator Community.

Little side notes

  • This is the first draft of this Service Design Principle.
  • Once adapted, even more, this principle should be part of the book "Service Design Principles 201-300"
  • As always feel free to share comments, feedback or personal stories to improve this principle.

Like 1
Daniele Catalanotto
Oct 18, 2022

The second draft of this Service Design Principle

You are a child, and tonight you want to see the latest Jurassic Park movie! You convince your big brother it’s a great idea. Awesome! Will you be able to go to the movies tonight? No. Your mom doesn’t allow you to do it. Tomorrow is a school day...

It’s stupid, right!? Of course, you should ask your mom for permission. She is the person who has real power, not your big brother, even if he is older than you and you like him.

It’s weird, but that’s something we often do at work.

We often spend a lot of time convincing the wrong people.

Bringing change in an organisation or a new service to life isn’t an easy thing. It takes a lot of convincing.

Before you start with a new idea, find out who really has the power. Then, try to understand who are the experts these people listen to.

So let me ask: for your project, who has power and who has influence? How can you better convince and onboard these people?

Footnotes

Thanks to Daniel Tuitt who inspired this Service Design Principle by sharing his own experience of working as a Service Designer on the Co-creator Community.

Daniele’s notes

  • This is the second draft of this Service Design Principle.
  • I’ve reduced the length of this principle by 15% compared to its first draft.
  • I’ve added at the end a question to turn the story into practice.
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Daniele Catalanotto
Oct 30, 2022
Haha low the loud chorus of "Mom, can we, can we, can we?!?!" :) That perfectly fits the principle "Recruit 3.5% of the crowd to make change happen". Will keep this way of telling it to improve that principle. Thanks JJ.

To your point about how to do it, the way I do it is to ask people who are since a long time in the organisation: "Who has the real power here?" "Whom do they listen to?". 

Based on your feedback I've updated the conclusion question in the third draft that you can see below.

Thanks again JJ.
Daniele Catalanotto
Oct 30, 2022

The third draft of this Service Design Principle

As a kid, you want to see the latest Jurassic Park movie tonight! You convince your big brother it’s a great idea. Awesome! Will you be able to go to the movies tonight? No. Your mom says tomorrow is a school day...

It’s stupid, right!? Of course! You should ask your mom for permission, not your brother! Even if he is older than you and you like him, your mom is the decision-maker.

It’s weird. We often do exactly that at work. We spend hours convincing the wrong people.

Bringing change within an organisation isn’t an easy thing. It takes a lot of convincing.

Before you start with a new idea, find out who really has the power. Then, try to understand who are the experts these people listen to.

So let me ask.

Who are the people who are in your organisation for many years? Ask them: “Who has the real power here?” “Whom do they listen to?”

Footnotes

A big thank you to Daniel Tuitt for sharing the service experience that inspired this principle with the co-creator community.

Daniele’s notes

  • This is the third draft of this principle.
  • I’ve reduced the length of this principle by 9 % compared to the previous draft.
  • I’ve updated the conclusion question to make it even more actionable based on a suggestion from JJ Turner