What makes a manager decide to buy your product, or in the IT Consulting arena, secure your services? What is the motivator? The formula is quite simple, actually. Put in classical terms, either increase pleasure, remove obstacles, or some degree of both.
No kidding, you're saying about now. But I think we're often surprised by how obvious good sense actually is. The proof is in the pudding, and capturing that magic formula is often elusive.
Think of something you use that works well.. is indispensable, or person that provided you fantastic service recently, and this notion becomes much clearer.
Chloe, my family's new Bassett Hound, provides a good example of this in my world. Almost everything about her is great except for when we walk... or more accurately, when she pulls me along behind her with my arm nearly ripping out of my shoulder. Chloe is so strong, and so intense when she's walked that it became a chore for us to do it, and her walk rate went way down. For months this went on, then finally we came across something that made me run out in the rain and cold to spend some hard earned dollars. You see, there's this harness-like leash that safely covers her snout and attaches to a longer leash. Now when we walk and the harness is on Chloe her behavior is magically transformed. Just like that, a big source of pain in my life was magically removed, and somebody sold me their product.
I think the same principle holds true in regard to the people we work with as well. The key to getting people to respond to you is very much the same thing as getting someone to buy your widget. Are you positively impacting their world by either removing obstacles, or by adding value? That's the question to ask if you find yourself dealing with difficult working relationships.
