Attention: Information Does Not Change Behavior

Waiting for the Perfect Digital Wave ... A friend blasted me after my April 30 Dispatch questioning the role of technology. "Peter, your recent comments ... were way off base. ... The computer I am using is wireless and can access the Internet at high speeds from anywhere in my office or home and soon my local Starbucks. ... Is your organization paperless? Can you access 15,000 contacts from your cell phone? ..."

Hey, my brain is already pretty full! As Michael Schrage said at the PikeNet Forum last week, "The only reason to invest in technology is to leverage human capital. A change in information does NOT change behavior." And he posed an intriguing question to the participants, "If you had a choice, which would you prefer -- to process 10 times as much information or to be 20% more persuasive?" That's easy. Most people chose the latter.

So how do you become more persuasive? By creating "shared space" for collaboration with your clients. And, yes, technology plays a vital role in creating this space. You'll communicate with tools like private web sites and instant messaging (IM) -- perhaps wirelessly. Ultimately, Schrage argued, you'll be most persuasive when you create an environment where customers can persuade themselves. Come to think of it, the PikeNet Dispatch is our shared space. So are you persuaded?

--Peter Pike