NLP Technique and an IT Project

NLP refers to Neural-Linguistic Programing. This is basically a thought management technique that deals with using internal mental images and language to alter behavior. Some of these techniques are applied in the area of communications.

The communication example I heard compared a conversation to two people walking. For this couple to stay together they have to start from a common point, head in the same direction at the same pace.

I took this to heart. I can't count on the number of times I made an assumption that the person I was talking to and I were starting from the same point. If I am lucky, the person I am talking "at" will pull me up short. If I am not so lucky, they will let me walk off with the delusion that 1) they knew what I was talking about; 2) they agreed with me and 3) they would somehow support my efforts in this area.

Prior to hearing the NLP communication analogy, I would just attribute their subsequent lack of support as deliberate sabotage or passive aggressive behavior. After hearing about the NLP analogy I made a deliberate effort to change my behavior and tried to improve my listening skills. I approached a conversation as a dance. As Franklin Covey recommends: I first tried to understand the topic from the point of view of the other participant, then adjusted my approach correspondingly and it quickly paid off.

So what does this have to do with an IT project you ask? Let me explain, I inherited a database system that was based on a software platform that was neither scalable or expandable. In short, we hit the end of the road. We needed to change the software platform and add features to the database system.

Prior my "enlightenment" I would have approached the project in probably a less effective manner. I would have done the work based on my interpretation of the end users needs with minimal effective listening. Any problems that came up I would blame on the end users lack of cooperation. After all, that was common operating procedure for me and a lot of my colleagues.

Now I approached the project from the point of view of the end user. The first decision I made was to start the new system so that it looked and felt almost exactly like the old system. What I tried to do is decrease or eliminate any learning curve associated with moving to the new system. So that was done. A consulting firm wrote the software to almost exactly match the old system's user interface. We had also set up two computers that periodically synchronized the databases to keep them both current. This allowed us to work on the system without disrupting the work of the end user. We would ping pong between the machines to introduce upgrades. When the new improvements were approved by the end users both computers were upgraded.

The end users loved it because it did not create more work for them or interrupt the work they needed to do now. After all, a new system that increases work load or makes it harder to do the existing work in not expected to be warmly accepted.

Next to upgrade system features, we asked the end users what they wanted next. With the list they provided, we prioritized the development work based on the criteria of: relative urgency, ease of implementation, and benefits. The features would be developed and installed on one of the computers and submitted to the end users for sign off.

I must add one clarification on the end users group: it did not contain all end users. It was composed of the group creating the information in the database. However, this database was being used by several other company divisions and the end user group was getting feedback from these divisional users.

The project was a success as defined by the end customer's satisfaction level which was relatively high. In addition, the project was relatively low budget and was very near its final form in less than 6 months. The work continued for quite a while after that because the users kept requesting new features.

Also I think all of us involved in the actual development work were pretty proud of the results we had collectively achieved. And once we settled in, the process was virtually friction free.