Finishing

closing the deal and what happens afterward

Understanding People

All communities are formed of people. Understanding how to work with these people (including yourself) is the key to implementing the changes you want to enact, and ensuring that the change is durable.

The 'P' Word

• "Politics" shouldn't be a dirty word
  • Wrong: "We are all marching together toward a glorious future"
  • Also wrong: "We're all duplicitous, self-serving bastards"
  • Reality: "We have the same facts, but we interpret or weigh them differently"
• Politics is how we make decisions in groups in the absence of agreement on goals [Wendorff2022]
  • Explaining things yet again to people who disagree with us isn't going to change their minds
  • And compromise isn't always possible
  • So we must find ways to form a winning coalition

Whispering in the director's ear might work in the short run, but people will resent it, and will either sabotage your implementation, be less likely to support you in future, or start using the tactic themselves. Only do it if the director is trusted by people both above and below them, and you have a good relationship with them, and the changes aren't controversial.

Collaborate, don't Compete

• Support other causes in exchange for support for yours
  • As long as goals don't conflict and strategies don't undermine each other
• Make your idea part of something larger that has broader support
  • But avoid making extra work for people during a crunch
• Bring in noteworthy outsiders who support your plan
  • Even (or especially) if the official purpose of their visit is something else
• Become the decision owner
  • Be careful not to sacrifice your own career doing service work for others
  • Unless you find that more rewarding than sequencing genomes
• Accept half a victory and then build on it
  • Two steps forward and one step back is still one step forward
• If all else fails, settle for a trial run

Any new way of working initially slows people down. Acknowledging this makes you more credible, which in turn makes people more likely to stick with you through the dip.

Exercise: Retrospective

1. In groups, discuss a change in your community that ran out of steam before it was successfully implemented. What went wrong? Was it ever officially halted?
2. In groups, discuss a change that was implemented successfully. What tactics did its proponents use to close the deal that aren't listed above?

Changing Minds

• Debate usually doesn't change minds [SteinLubrano2025]
  • Most people choose most of their beliefs based on group identity
  • Believe things or ignore contradictions to reduce cognitive dissonance
• Instead, take advantage of friendships and other trusting relationships
  • Social contact theory: positive social interactions between members of different groups reduces prejudice, particularly in the presence of equal status and shared goals
• And use action to shape belief
  • Situated cognition theory: people who show up for fundraisers or protests are more likely to adopt those groups' beliefs
• Don't rely on social media
  • Low activation cost means low commitment [Tufekci2018]
  • Creates bubbles
• There are different approaches that can be used depending on your personality type
  • Extrovert, introvert, ambivert, otrovert: knowing what you and the people you are talking to draw energy from, and form personal philosophies around, can help reduce miscommunication

Exercise: Changing Your Mind

1. Describe something important that you have changed your mind about in the last ten years (i.e., fill in the sentence, "I used to think… and now I think…").
2. In groups, discuss what aspects of that change were down to internal vs external reshaping of beliefs. Who did you trust (including yourself)?

Dealing with Resistance

• Formalize the role of skeptic
  • Often improves your ideas
• Isolate those who are never going to agree
  • Can be to their benefit as well
• Plan to follow through
  • Maintenance requires much more effort than construction
• Agree what benefit, rewards, and recognition look like
  • Support is more likely if it is visibly valued
• Allow for flexible engagement
  • Supporters can contribute in different ways, and at different levels, according to their capacity

Exercise: Inertia

Describe a case in which people continued doing things the old way after most of the organization moved to a new way.

1. Why was this permitted?
2. What were the benefits and drawbacks of allowing this?
3. What is the ongoing cost of allowing this, and how is it shared?

Sustaining change

This course is focussed around enacting change in a community as an individual, rather than enacting changes in the world as a community (of practice or purpose). It is important to also understand how the change in the community benefits the community’s goal.

• Change is successful when it is widely adopted in the community
  • This often happens when it supports the community’s need or goals
• A community evolves, and the change may no longer be appropriate, aligned or effective
  • This is okay!
  • Sustaining change is also about understanding when to move on
• As an individual’s role within a community changes, other participants may be better placed to propose and enact new change

Exercise: moving on and up

1. Describe a case when a previously successful change was no longer as appropriate or effective.

   • Had the community need, membership, leadership or stage changed?
   • Did the community continue regardless, revert to what was done prior to the change, or enact a new change?

2. Describe a case when your role changed in a community

   • Did this make it easier or harder to sustain a successful change you helped implement?
   • How did it change your ability to propose or support new changes?

Sabina Wraps Up

• Hackathons are now a two-day mandatory event at the end of every quarter
  • Sabina vets projects in advance of each hackathon
  • All projects must be open source so that externals can take part
  • All data must be open as well (same reasoning)
  • Annual performance review form asks staff about their contributions
• Sabina organizes quarterly training sessions to prepare people for these hackathons
  • Director of IT (or one of his staff) covers software skills
  • Sabina and VP of Human Resources talk about collaboration skills (including DEI)
• Now justified as a way to collaborate with scientific researchers and find grad students the company might want to recruit