A few years ago, an author I admired asked me to drop him a note the next time I was in London. So, I invented a spurious reason and met him.
We had connected on Twitter and the author was interested in what was happening with social media in the public sector.
We met in the South Bank Centre cafe a stone’s throw from the London Eye.
At that point in time, I was in the wave of militant optimists who were looking to make the social web work for social good. We chatted over a cup of coffee and the conversation turned to bringing people along.
Back then, I thought that you should spend time with everyone because anyone could see the possibility of those tools.
The author didn’t.
At the time, I was surprised. It took me several years to see he was right.
His argument was that in a room of 10 people you can see a lightbulb go on over maybe two or three people. They are the enthusiasts. Fired with enthusiasm, they will scheme and experiment and take things forward. A further two or three may do similar between 9am and 5pm. They are the followers.
Then there were the rest.
The author said he didn’t bother with them because they would probably never see the light. They are the laggards.
A few weeks ago, I thought of this conversation. In the last 20 years there has been the financial crash, two significant changes of Government, an energy crisis, war in Ukraine, war in the Middle East, Brexit, COVID institutional reorganisation and the rise of AI.
Working in the public sector over the last 20 years has seen pay freezes and a loss of earning power. On a good day, you get called an idiot twice an hour online.
There is no question that ever more change is coming.
Should we expect everyone to be enthusiastic?
Not really.
We can hope people are in the first group of enthusiasts.
We can maybe bring people along to be in the second group.
But we don’t have any right to expect this to happen.
There will be people in the third group who have had enough.
I’m always keen to show them the door to a better path. I’m realistic enough to know that some people have just had enough.
Which group are you in?
Picture credit: Penzance Railway Station by Andy F, CC BY-SA 2.0.
For more, I deliver training to help you make sense of the changing landscape.
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