Good guy, bad guy. Black and white. Extreme positions help people to articulate themselves better even if they know that those positions are something in between.
This week I was able to attend a user conference in Berlin with lots of customer case studies. The thing I was surprised is that the speakers were too close to their vendors positioning. This surprise reminded me at the golden circle from Simon Sinek.
I don’t want to convince speakers to talk about “what” technology they use. But I’d love to discuss the standpoint not to lead with technology or vendor first, instead to talk about the “why” and challenge. It is much easier to lead with the “what” and talk about the “how”. I really recommend the video from Simon Sinek about “How great leaders inspire action”.
Simon used another great concept about life cycles. This concept is common in literature, where I want to refer to Geoffrey Moore and his technology adoption lifecycle:
Looking back to the conference speakers presenting technologies from their used vendors I was surprised how pragmatic and easy discussions started with the audience about the same bugs and challenges of their technology they use. Another learning how vendors marketing propaganda really work, if customers talk and exchange about products they use. Really impressive! You only need to change the master from powerpoint, that’s it. For example, one speaker used the Windows 8 fonts, so you wouldn’t even need to change it for a Microsoft presentation.
Another cultural validation: Most Germans are convinced followers. It is hard to find innovators or even early adopters.
Looking now forward for Citrix Synergy in May. I am very convinced about the vendor, but like to step on step back when writing about them.
Patrick Sauerwein | @virtual_patrick 