Page 246 - The Power to Change Anything

Change the Environment 235

become rightfully concerned about “people problems,” but
generally only after it was too late. The same was true for cus-
tomer satisfaction. This was also listed as a high priority, but
nobody ever actually talked about customers or did anything
to improve customer relationships until the company lost a
major client to a competitor.
To change the executives’ narrow focus, we changed the
data stream. Alongside weekly production numbers, executives
now enthusiastically pore over customer and employee data.
If you watch their current behavior, you’ll note that they spread
their attention across more stakeholders than ever before. We
also provided employees who had long shown passion for cus-
tomer satisfaction with weekly cost and profit data, and they too
broadened their interests. For instance, when faced with a dis-
satisfied customer, instead of simply throwing money at the
problem (often the easiest solution), employees began to seek
other, more cost-effective fixes. Before the intervention started,
leaders and employees alike had talked about the importance
of all their stakeholders, but nothing changed their parochial
behavior until their data stream expanded.
One warning about data. When it comes to data, there is
such a thing as “too much of a good thing.” Corporate leaders
often undermine the influence of the data they so carefully
gather by overdoing it. The incessant flow of reports, printouts,
and e-mails—one heaped upon the other—transforms into
numbing and incoherent background noise. Influence masters
never make this mistake. They’re focused and deliberate about
the data they share. They understand that the only reason for
gathering or publishing any data is to reinforce vital behaviors.

SPACE: THE FINAL FRONTIER

As difficult as it can be to notice the effects of data on our
behavior, it’s much more difficult to notice the effects of
physical space. Architects create space, and then we live with