Given you typically invest so much of yourself into the things (the events) you make, I do think you should be aware of how this effects you and your work.
The need to influence others
Our events are the sum of many, many people (with varying objectives and perspectives!), so it is vital that you can influence other people, both inside and outside of your organisation, to achieve what you need to achieve.
I spoke recently about how events are everything for an organisation, and that a Team of Team’s approach is essential to success. But it can be frustrating being the ‘Event Manager’, trying to get everyone to contribute (even when it is for their own good!). So understanding how to get people to contribute is critical.
Everyone contributes to your Events. And it is your Events that provide you with everything.
How to make things happen
We know from the IKEA Effect we value the things we make more than other things. So how do we put this to good effect?
Make it their idea too
We known the old trick, that if you want someone to like your idea, make it his or her idea. This is the IKEA Effect in action, as we known people will value their own thinking and effort more than others.
So next time your looking to get ‘buy in’ for something internally, or with a client, set the discussion up in the right way, to let those key people think it through for themselves. You don’t need to manipulate them, or lose any integrity in the process, but if you just present the facts, and some context to guide them, it is likely to lead to the same conclusion, the idea or decision you may have already made. This is also a fair way to validate and check your own bias!
Influencing Progress
Progress as for your team
The Harvard Business School case method is to get students to work through a problem to form the solution themselves. While it would be easier to just give the answers, that process, and ownership of a problem, means people value the results, and remember the results, more than if they had no ownership of it. Keep this in mind next time your trying to workshop a problem as a team!
Progress for your event
I think many of us know that it takes a few approaches to get ideas and initiatives across the line. Sometimes it takes a 3 – 4 (or more) times, planting seeds each time. But this is too long. And what we often actually find is that if the idea is presented in a different light, or conceived in a different forum, it is MUCH more likely to fly sooner.
Progress for you
We also know when you recognise it’s not just about you anymore, that real leadership is facilitating progress with others, this is when we really amplify our influence. So, I think this approach of getting buy in from others, to create ideas and solve problems is valuable to keep front in mind when you are looking to get ahead, both as a team, for your event, and for you.
“People rise to a challenge, if it’s their challenge” – Wayne Smith (GURU TO THE NZ ALL BLACK’S)
A word of warning!
We do need to understand why more people don’t love your ideas or your event as much as you do!
We like it more just because its our own
We all need to be aware of falling in love with our own ideas, whether your entire event creation, or an idea you have, as we always value what we have come up with (much more than others do!).
The danger here is that your biased in your assessment of your ideas, or of your events value in the market.
We see this in start up business all the time, why a new café owner believes they will be much more successful than the last 3 that occupied the same location. We simply just fall in love with our own ideas and creations. Likewise a new event idea is often not tested as much as it should be. Always be aware the IKEA effect influences our valuations!
Own it, but… beware of the Sunk Costs trap
As I touched on last week, the nature of the IKEA or ‘endowment effect’ means we are very prone to the sunk costs fallacy kicking in in a big way, where we often see more time and money being thrown in the vain hope of making something bad get better.
Sunk Costs is an ally of the IKEA Effect bias.
A common mantra in events is that it takes 2-3 years to move to a profit, but, make sure its not passion for your idea that’s misleading you. Beware that your not investing just because it is your idea, or, that you feel like you have invested too much of yourself to turn back. Just remember, it may well be the wrong path, and sometimes we need to take a few steps back, to go forward.
But it’s not all bad…
Studies have shown the effect helps build stronger relationships – that the joint effort of investing ourselves into a project creates strong bonds.
Our shared investment
I think this helps explain in part how the bonds become so strong within event teams. Having invested so much of ourselves, together, we always come out of an event as a tight unit.
Think of some of the relationships you established working alongside someone, putting your heart and soul into an event, and how strong that relationship has stayed, possibly far greater than many other relationships you have. It may well be the IKEA Effect is the reason why!
So why should you be interested in all this?
In my work, I help people in 2 ways.
To create more successful events, and
To create more successful event people.
So I enjoy seeing how these effects on human behaviour, can be used to both create better events, but also better people.
How can I help you?
For You and Your team
An example of how we benefit from these learning’s is in the workshops I run. Investing your time into these collaborative forums is very powerful, in that they enable teams, and you, to take ownership of ideas, and push them forward together.
What I always see is the ideas are always there. Sometimes it is just the small things that have a big effect.
For you
The other ways we can apply this knowledge is to benefit you. When I am mentoring event people, we harness our human nature in positive ways. To understand the biases and perspectives we all naturally have, and put these to good effect.
To work better, and live better.
If I can help with that, just let me know!