Hi Matthew, (01)
I know you asked for a short speech, but this seems to be turning into a
discussion. (02)
I recall people phrasing this in change management terms. If you want
someone to scratch, you need to persuade them they have an itch. (03)
Where this seems to me relevant here is that as with many new things,
ontology can be used to fix things that are not currently perceived as
problems. The question is how to make them be perceived as problems - how to
make them itch.
The issue is not so much they are not problems, but that people are so used
to the situation they no longer perceive them as problem. I have sometimes
heard this called the 'learned helplessness syndrome': where people have got
so used to a problem, they ignore its existence. (04)
John said "Vague slogans and talking points are useless. These questions
must be answered with hard facts, case studies, and results." And the
official wisdom is right in many cases. (05)
However, I think there is another way of looking at this.
Market diffusion theory
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations ) identifies
innovators, who are characterised as people who can form a vision without
"the hard facts, case studies, and results" John talks about.
In my personal experience, these people exist (not many) and have budgets
(even fewer) and these are the most likely candidates for a project. (As an
aside, you qualify (or did when you worked at Shell). (06)
In this case, the issue is having a vision - which is different from hard
facts, case studies, and results. (07)
Interestingly, the case is similar in some cases of scientific development.
I recall referring John to Kuhn's paper on measurement, where he said that
having measurement was a sign of maturity in science, not innovation. (08)
So, I'd suggest working out where the innovators with budgets are and then
getting in the lift with them, and then present your vision.
And, returning to the point I started with, innovators tend to be looking
for itches so easier to persuade they have one. (09)
Chris (010)
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ontology-summit-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ontology-
> summit-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of John F. Sowa
> Sent: 28 January 2011 14:55
> To: ontology-summit@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [ontology-summit] [Making the Case] Elevator Pitch
>
> Dear Matthew and Mills,
>
> MW
> > there are different audiences we need to reach, so unless you are just
> > addressing a general audience, please state the audience you are are
> > addressing.
>
> Yes indeed. An elevator pitch must be tailored to the interests of the
person
> you are talking to.
>
> MD
> > First, make a case to the senior most executive that your solving a
> > problem, meeting a challenge, exploiting an opportunity that matters
> > to him/her and the organization.
>
> The IBM sales force had one fundamental guideline:
>
> Before you can sell the solution, you must sell the problem.
>
> Before anybody at any level is going to want an ontology, they must be
> convinced of two things: (1) they have a serious problem, and (2) a good
> ontology can solve that problem.
>
> Before we can sell the idea of ontology to anybody, we have to ask
ourselves
> some very serious questions:
>
> 1. What problem(s) can an ontology solve?
>
> 2. How are those problems being solved (or bypassed) today?
>
> 3. Could an ontology solve or help solve those problems
> better than tools that don't use an explicit ontology?
>
> 4. How?
>
> Vague slogans and talking points are useless. These questions must be
> answered with hard facts, case studies, and results.
>
> John
>
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