The Curtain Twitcher Effect in Change Initiatives: Mimetic Desire

“Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do. Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do.” — Mark Twain

Tom looked at the big fence in front of him. Next to him stood a bucket of whitewash, waiting for him to spread it out across the bare board planks. He sighed. Normally, he would be out on a small adventure by now. Instead, he had been sent to whitewash his aunt’s fence as a punishment for skipping school to go swimming. He took a deep breath and started the boring job of stroking the board planks. Right, left, soak the brush in whitewash, and repeat. To make matters worse, kids passing by would stop and make fun of him.

This is an extract from Mark Twain's "Adventures of Tom Sawyer". Moments later in the story, Tom had "influenced" all the other kids to paint the fence for him. He made the chore seem like a privilege. He had even encouraged the kids to shower him with gifts so that they would be allowed to paint.

So, just how did he pull it off?

Tom unwittingly used the power of Mimetic Desire.

Mimetic Desire

"To say that desire is mimetic means that it's imitative. Desire is part of a social process because we are social creatures." - Luke Burgis (our guest on Innovation Show Episode 274 on his new book, "Wanting".

If you were to leave a bunch of toddlers alone in a room full of toys. They will gravitate towards one single toy. If one child chooses it and displays enough fascination, pretty soon a second and third child will also show interest too. That is mimetic desire, they are imitating the desire of the other children.

In organisational change initiatives, we can use Mimetic Desire to our advantage.

Most of these efforts try to bring everyone on the change journey and often focus on converting the laggards, those who stoop very low to conserve the status quo. Through using the power of mimetic desire, you shift your focus to the early adopters, those who are willing to give it a try. In doing so, you activate what I call, "The curtain twitcher effect" named after that neighbour who is always peaking out to see what "The Joneses" are up to.

When organisational leaders recognise and reward rather new behaviours such as a willingness to fail in an effort to succeed, they create the conditions for a cycle of positive mimetic desire. Like the toddlers who show interest in a certain toy, leaders must explicitly pay attention to the activities of those people who initiate change. As this week's guest on The Innovation Show, Greg Satell shares, leaders must focus on the early adopters rather than the laggards.

Quite soon, those laggards will be twitching their silo curtains wondering:

Hmmm, what's happening over there?

Why are those people getting leadership attention?

How can I get me some of that?

And, soon enough, they will show interest in your new toy and will even hijack the credit for it when possible.

That's when you know that you have succeeded.

THANKS FOR READING

For more thoughts on the "curtain twitcher effect" enquire about The Permanent Reinvention workshops, based on my book: "Undisruptable, A Mindset of Permanent Reinvention for Individuals, Organisations and Life" with a stunning forward by Dee Hock.

For more on mimetic desire, check out the forthcoming episode of The Innovation Show with Luke Burgis on his book: “Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life”

This week's show is with Greg Satell on his findings from the field of organisational change programmes. A couple of years after the publication of his bestselling book, "Cascades" he shares what he has witnessed in the field. In particular, how a common unifying goal Is vital for success as is a focus on the early majority rather than the life-sucking laggards.

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