Here is an updated formula\u00a0for the grumpy manager pitch. I tested it in two workshops with council staff\u00a0last year, and discovered some neat\u00a0ways to improve it.<\/p>\n

How to pitch an innovation to a risk averse manager<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\nSo you\u2019ve got this amazing, cool, gigantically engaging project idea, and you want your manager to sign off on it.
\nThis is where your beautiful new tyre hits the hard asphalt of institutional reality. You\u2019ve convinced your team – but they think like\u00a0you do. Now you have to convince someone who doesn\u2019t think like\u00a0you do. This will probably be your biggest single hurdle. If you can convince your manager, you\u2019re well positioned to convince others.
\nThink about your manager\u2019s world: she has a small amount of power and autonomy, and it\u2019s fragile. She\u2019ll need to justify her decision to sceptical executives above her. And they are in just the same situation. They also have small amounts of fragile autonomy.
\nAnd, as you know, she\u2019s very busy and has virtually no cognitive bandwidth to spare.
\nWhat you\u2019ve got working for you is that your manager has problems she needs help to solve. And the terrible secret that all managers have (but can\u2019t talk about) is that they know they are crap at achieving some of their critical goals. This is the capacity gap you can use to frame a successful sign-off. Managers are open to anything that increases their capacity to meet wobbly KPIs (key performance indicators). But it has to be safe!
\nNow we can see a strategy for pitching our idea. Although our idea is WORLD-SHAKINGLY REVOLUTIONARY, we must temper that vision and instead pitch it as a safe, low-risk way to progress our managers\u2019 immediately salient goals. And we need a crisp, instantly comprehensible description that that our manager can intuitively understand and sell up the chain.
\nAnd we\u00a0have just 3 minutes to do it.
\nSo let\u2019s get some practice, using this 8 step formula:
\nStep 1) Open with a 10 second elevator pitch.<\/strong>\u00a0Describe the idea and the outcome\u00a0in 10 seconds or 25 words. Make it clean and simple.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis proposal is for a\u00a02 week community reporting blitz to create a snapshot of backyard dumping in Bondi.”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Step 2) State the need.<\/strong>\u00a0In one paragraph, write a crisp problem statement. If you have some metrics, mention them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had 17 complaints of waste dumping in Bondi back streets in the last 12 months. But we have no idea of the real extent, of what\u2019s being dumped, and who\u2019s dumping it. We need a clear picture so we can devise a response. Yet we don\u2019t have the staff to go out and check.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Step 3) Remember to link to your managers’ KPIs.<\/strong>\u00a0Ideally link to\u00a0one or more KPIs your manager is having trouble meeting – that way you\u00a0can be the answer to their problem. Feel free to use a management buzzword-de-jour\u00a0here.<\/p>\n

“Tackling\u00a0back street dumping can\u00a0let\u00a0crews focus more on ‘<\/em>accelerated delivery’ of\u00a0main street\u00a0cleansing.”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Step 4) Sketch the innovation.<\/strong>\u00a0How does it work? Sketch the mechanics of your idea. Conjure a word-picture. Better still, draw a real picture so the manager can instantly visualise the elements and how they work together.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe proposal involves asking joggers to snap photos of waste dumped and send them to a council SMS number. That will gives us a quick visual database of rubbish dumped, geocoded and dated. To encourage participation, we\u2019ll offer free coffee vouchers for the first 50 individuals who send in photos.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

And show them a picture.
\n
\nStep 5) What\u2019s the ask?<\/strong>\u00a0What, exactly, is the size of the bet you\u2019re asking your manager\u00a0to make?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll need $1500 for printing and coffee vouchers. We\u2019ll need 3 days each for 2 staff to organise the prototype.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Step 6) Any evidence this idea has worked elsewhere?<\/strong>\u00a0If so, mention it. If you have metrics from successful precedents, present\u00a0them.
\nStep 7) How you\u2019ll manage the risks.<\/strong>\u00a0How will you constrain the investment to make it a small, safe, bet? Think: limited time, compact location, small budget. Or start with rapid prototyping: a small, safe, test of concept, carried out swiftly, with very basic resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d like to prototype the idea with 4 of our own staff who are joggers. Then test the idea with local joggers, on a limited basis, in Barney St and Janis Lane, for a two week trial. We\u2019ll assess the results and report back to you.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Step 8) Now be silent.<\/strong>\u00a0Leave it to them. People actually have to talk themselves into change. Your silence will invite a response. They\u2019ll ask some questions. A conversation will occur. They\u2019ll test out their fears and you\u2019ll have the answers (because you rehearsed them).<\/p>\n

To maximise your chances<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Rehearse. Rehearse.\u00a0<\/strong>Rehearse the pitch in front of an audience. Practice answering the kind of questions you\u2019re manager is likely to ask.
\nGet allies.<\/strong>\u00a0Ask respected people in the organisation to support your pitch
\nHave reputational credit<\/strong>. Sometimes it\u2019s important to be patient and wait until you have wins in the\u00a0organisation before you propose significant changes.
\nPut them in the driving seat.<\/strong>\u00a0Since autonomy is scarce for your manager, they relish it. So, share control. Don\u2019t make it a \u2018pitch\u2019 or \u2018request\u2019. Make it \u201cWe\u2019d like your input into an idea.\u201d Then take on their input.
\nDon\u2019t argue or disagree.\u00a0<\/strong>Argument causes resistance. Placing a manager under pressure is the surest route to \u2018no\u2019.
\nUse Google.<\/strong>\u00a0Have a good look around for similar ideas in similar organisations. If others have succeeded, the risks look smaller to your manager. If a lot have succeeded, then you can utilise a powerful motivator: fear of missing out.
\nAnd don\u2019t forget to keep them in the loop.\u00a0<\/strong>If they agree to go ahead, immediately schedule the first check-in meeting (in say 2-3 weeks). Keep them briefed, in person, regularly, and keep inviting their input.<\/p>\n

Your language: it should be positive, succinct, definite<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A pitch should be succinct, lacking waffle and expressed in quietly assertive language.
\nThe future tense is good:\u00a0\u201cWe will\u201d<\/em>\u00a0is always preferable to the weak\u00a0\u201cwe would\u201d.<\/em>
\nThe client wants to know you\u2019re confident and\u00a0in control.
\nAvoid:\u00a0\u201cWe could\u2026\u201d or \u201cWe\u2019re thinking of\u2026\u201d<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0\u201cMaybe\u2026\u201d.<\/em>
\nSay:\u00a0“We will produce\u2026 “We will deliver\u2026 “We will implement\u2026.”<\/em>
\nUse concrete language; avoid abstractions eg. Don\u2019t say\u00a0\u201cKey target groups\u201d<\/em>, say\u00a0\u201cPeople who will participate\u201d.<\/em>
\nMore on pitching innovations to managers<\/strong>
\nSick of Hearing Your Boss Saying \u201cNo\u201d?<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(10 Ways to Make Him Say \u201cYes!\u201d), Guerris de Ternay,\u00a0Contriber<\/em>
\nHow to sell an idea to your boss<\/a><\/strong>, Roberto Verganto,\u00a0Harvard Business Review<\/em>
\nUnleashing Breakthrough Inno<\/strong>vation in Government<\/strong><\/a>, Nikhil R. Sahni, Maxwell Wessel, & Clayton M. Christensen,\u00a0Stanford Social Innovation Review<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here is an updated formula\u00a0for the grumpy manager pitch. I tested it in two workshops with council staff\u00a0last year, and discovered some neat\u00a0ways to improve it. How to pitch an innovation to a risk averse manager So you\u2019ve got this amazing, cool, gigantically engaging project idea, and you want your manager to sign off on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-innovation-2","has-post-thumbnail","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pac6ss-sE","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enablingchange.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enablingchange.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enablingchange.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enablingchange.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enablingchange.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.enablingchange.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1776\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enablingchange.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enablingchange.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enablingchange.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}