Subtitle: Pseudo equation for behavioral alignment
When starting my management career I was mentored on the needs to get leaders, peers, and direct reports to agree on a given outcome that was necessary for business results / plans to move forward. As many leaders know teams, peers, and business colleagues do not always see objectives or problems in the same way and achieving alignment can be very difficult if there are many strong points and objections.
Forward progress is also very often an imperfect zig-zag line of discovery to understand and shape results to meet a given objective.
When looking to get multiple resources aligned, find compromises on areas of dispute, and ensure consistent communications I have used the following pseudo equation as a starting method to align vested interest of all parties involved.
Vested Interest pseudo equation
A vested interest starts out as a special interest or arrangement that differs from the established normal state. An example would be adopting a new technology, changing the de facto coding language, or establishing a new line of business.
In each of these examples, it is a rare endeavor to be able to accomplish a success without additional organizational involvement. It is necessary to convince all parties involved that the new path is of benefit and to also get full buy-in and support.
Describing this in terms of seeking a vested interest we must look at what influences others to see the alignment and also how to align when ideas and attitudes are at odds.
Understanding and defining an individual's involvement is the first step in determining how they will respond to supporting the new/special interest. Is the new interest of value to them? Does it support their self-impression? Is the outcome aligned?
Let's pretend we are discussing a new software product with a Technical Fellow. The new solution conflicts with a project that has been active for a year. An approach to take would be to share ideas and reasons that the new software is a better result and ask the Fellow to lead the analysis to ensure the results are confirmed and better than the established. This would allow for the Fellow demonstrate their value, confirms their own impression that it is important they be involved and allows input on the outcome.
Now let's look at the Ego part of the vested interest equation. Typically the Ego is associated with how emotionally connected an individual is. Many examples can be seen across technical areas such as Python vs. C++, and Mac vs. PC. An individual's Ego can be powerful enough to override the other aspects of what might drive their interests and should be considered carefully. The emotionally connected aspect of the Ego can also be a game changer if aligned with an objective.
Let's pretend again with the Technical Fellow. In this case, you know that the Fellow has been driving for modernizing the software languages of the company. The new solution you have found extensively supports modern languages and has a reputation for supporting open source (another passion of the Fellow). Even if the new solution conflicts with the norm the additional aspects might be so aligned with the Ego of the Fellow that they will go to great lengths of support because it furthers existing values and passions. Now imagine if the opposite was true and the new solution only uses a traditional software approach. Despite a potentially better company result, the Fellow might not want any involvement due to the conflict with software language modernization.
Next is considering the individual Attitude as defined by their self-belief with their ability to affect the outcome. This is balanced by any consequences which might occur. If the individual does not believe in themselves or the potential outcome their Attitude could be non-commital or even fearful. Consequences can be so largely negative (loss of reputation, missed promotion, etc.) that this might override an individual's belief in their ability to influence the outcome. Consequentially an individual's self-belief can be so high that it inspires confidence in others to influence the certainty of a positive outcome.
The last part of the Vested Interest equation is to ensure thoroughness of communication.
Communicating across the levels of a typical organizational hierarchy (or even further in matrix orgs) creates an influence unto itself. Communication of challenges, alignment, issues and successes will help nudge outcomes forward in addition to keeping stakeholders informed. Your own clear communication might also reveal allies to solve problems and even sometimes enable others in the organization to address alignment problems or provide information that you did not have or understand.
By remembering and using the Vested Interest pseudo equation you will always have a mechanism to mentally re-center and even describe what you are trying to accomplish when there are disputes or disagreements especially in the face of the many cognitive biases that we are all affected by.