1

Two good reasons why new software processes are not adopted

Stan RifkinMaster Systems Inc.

2604B El Camino RealCarlsbad, California 92008 USA

+1 760 729 3388 sr@Master-

Systems.com

2 Traditional explanation of adoption

Characteristics of Innovation Adopters Organization Environment

3 Traditional characteristics of the innovation

1.    Relative advantage is the degree to which an innovation is perceived to be better than the idea or product or process it supersedes.

2.     Compatibility is the degree to which an innovation is perceived to be consistent with the existing culture and needs.

3.     Complexity is the degree to which the innovation is difficult, or at least more difficult than its competitors.

4.     Trialability and divisibility are measures of the degree to which an innovation may be taken apart and only a part tried. A thick, monolithic innovation has a lower trialability than one that has separable components, each of which adds some value.

5.     Observability is the degree to which the results of the implementation will be visible.

4 (Exhaustive) list of factors -- from Lopata

The Implementation Process

Adaptation of the Organization Workload Workflow Formalization Communication Work Assignments Technical Knowledge & Skills

Requirements Roles Centralization Task Changes Simplification Specialization Reduced Redundancy Intangibility of Work Visibility of Work Upgrading of Jobs Adaptation of the Technology Functionality Enhancements Set-Ups/Adjustments Upgrades System Access Allocation Data Formats Vendor Support Accommodation of External Influences

Environmental Factors Market Demands Expanding Customer Base Internal Factors Uncertainty Inter-organizational Dependence

Technology Characteristics Compatibility/Radicalness/Technology-Organization

Match Trialability/Divisibility/Technical Complexity Observability Originality Transferability Complexity/Sophistication Ease of Learning A Use # of Elements Relative Advantage Integration Generality of Purpose

Organizational Characteristics Complexity/Span & Scope Cosmopolitanism (of individuals) Attitudes (of individuals) Networks Centralization Formalization Task/Problem Variety Encouragement Local Ownership Resources Readiness Specialization

5 Factors might interact in messy ways

6

Usual problems with factors

Linear combination No interaction or connection No timing No dominance

… and a practical solution

Embrace the logic of opposition Force and counterforce Transformation and

persistence Change and restoration

7

Better answer 1

8 Better answer 2

People-determined

System-determined

Interaction theory

Cause of resistance

Factors internal to people & groups

System factors, e.g., technical excellence & ergonomics

Interaction of system & context

Assumptions about resistance

Attribute of user; undesirable

Attribute of system; undesirable

Product of setting, user & designer

Facts Factors differentiate resistors from non-resistors

System has technical problems

Political struggle

Prediction If you change people, resistance will dissolve

If you change the system, resistance will dissolve

Those changes will have little effect

Action suggested

Change people internally or externally

Change system

Address power loss & gain

9

Examples

COTS in the organization Competency destroying: need

new skills of assessment & assimilation, architecture matching, and adaptation (“Just because you know how to create it does not mean you know how to buy it.”)

In-house corporate re-use vs. open source model

Social & economic forces dominate “logic” of control & ownership

Transition of research software to industrial settings

Each is trying to optimize a different thing

Need a transition organization

10 Archetype transition organization

Technology receptors: There is a focal point inside organizations to scan the technology landscape and tailor the solutions

there to the organization’s particular problems &

environment.

11

Path dependence & creation

Things happen for a reason, even a bad one.

In order to get things to happen Your Way you have to change the climate from inside:

Creative destruction; mindful deviation

Values - quality, economics, time to market, security

Tension between patience and impatience

Do not forget: you are both a technology creator and a change agent!

12

Implications

Power & politics dominate technical content

(Linear) checklists (of factors) are limited in predictive ability

Technical content is a hygiene factor, a dissatisfier, something to be overcome