Slow to change

Greg: ‘Hey, you ready to go?’

Mark: ‘Yeah just have to get my jacket’

And with that comment Mark got up from the couch and walked out of the room, leaving Greg to take in his surroundings.

He noticed that Mark had put his mug down on a MacBook Air and beside it was the latest iPhone sitting atop a stack of notes and in the corner propping open the window, was an ‘Alexa’.

Mark returned ‘Ok let’s do this!’

‘I didn’t know you had so many gadgets Mark’ Greg remarked.

‘What? Oh yeah, people keep giving them to me, but I’ve no idea how to use them so they just serve as a coaster, paper weight and breeze control thingy-ma-bobby.

…

I think change is very difficult. Old habits die hard and some will only change when they absolutely have to.

For Mark he sees no reason to learn how to use technology.

His friends live locally and come by in person.

Now if a lockdown was enforced and house visits banned I think Mark would get very lonely very quickly.

I think that loneliness would create an internal tension for Mark and all of a sudden he would find himself highly motivated to learn how to make a WhatsApp call.

I think if you want everyone to contact you via Facebook messenger then don’t reply to any other form of communication.

If you want your colleagues to use the new ticketing system then have them open a ticket for every single issue, no matter how small.

If they sense that you are not 100% committed to change or if they find an easier way around they’ll take it.

Patrick in IT gets inundated with requests because everyone knows he’s a big softie who can’t turn down a chance to help, no matter what form it takes.