Advantage and Disadvantage

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Yesterday one of my buddies went to a government office to check on the status of a project partner’s applications. From his island hometown he had to motorbike over a bridge and several kilometers just to get there. In a previous trip to the same place he had been given the run-around. It only stopped after he went straight to the office head. He was hoping that, on this trip, he wouldn’t have to go through the same experience.

Wrong. They bounced him from one table to another - again. And this time the boss was not around. He was exasperated, but he did not want to have traveled all the way for nothing. So he got creative. He told me he “used his charm” - and I didn’t even know he had any! Whatever he did, he got the results we wanted.

In one of our previous jobs we reported directly to the head of the organization. We could count on his backing for any of our service improvement projects. One thing that could get people to cooperate on our projects was the authority of the big boss. We had that in spades. Need a memo? We could have it signed in a day. Need an Executive Order? Ok,that would take longer but we could also produce that. 

Sure, some people dragged their feet or would revert to the usual way of doing things when we turned our backs. But by and large substantive improvements were introduced and installed. 

We were heavily dependent on authority as a means of getting people to say “yes”. And it was not just me and my buddies - the whole bureaucracy ran mostly on the basis of authority.  

Now we’re still pushing the world into better shape but we can’t depend on authority anymore. Mainly because we don’t have any. Instead, we’ve learned to use the other six “Triggers to Yes”.

And it’s been an exhilarating experience, finding out that it’s possible to convince others to do the right thing without resorting to memos, executive orders or borderline intimidation. Yes, there are times when we have to wrack our brains thinking about the right approach or trigger, but after a while I almost welcome these challenges. It’s like feeling a new kind of pain when running - when you get to know it better you learn to deal with it and it makes you a better runner.

Looking back I could almost say having so much “authority” actually atrophied our muscles for the other means of persuasion. What we thought to be an advantage may not have been such a good thing, because it weakened other competencies.  

And not being in an authoritative position to tell people what to do, we have learned, is not a disadvantage. It’s actually develops skills and capabilities for more effective persuasion. My buddies have learned to observe individuals and groups, discern patterns of power (who influences whom), the triggers that work with each influencer.  With these skills they have accomplished more reforms with less resources and over a bigger area.

Malcom Gladwell says as much in his book, “David and Goliath”.  There are some “advantages” that are actually weaknesses, while there are some “disadvantages” that lead to strength. Quite useful thing for Development Entrepreneurs to remember, as they often have to look for ways to turn their disadvantage to advantage when fighting against bigger, more powerful forces.


What do you consider as your disadvantage? What advantage can you gain out of it?

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