03 December 2009
By Thomas Steffen
Academia can be a funny place, and few things are quite as they are. Power is one example: formally we can do hardly anything on our own, but actually we hold the power of "the person who does". This was pointed out to me during a recent lunch break (a topic for another day).
I was talking about my activities and how I was involved with the redesign of our department web site. Progress is slow, partly because everybody is happy to discuss expectations, but few people actually produce any content. Then my colleague remarked that this gives these few creative people the power to shape the result: they create the parts of the new web site, and once they are in place, the discussion and vetting process usually introduces minimal changes at most.
I realised he was right in a wider sense: the first example or prototype on the table will shape the direction of a project more than any other factor. So if we create this first draft, we set the course forward. This is more power than we may expect to have, and we should be aware of it.
Matthew Salois04 December 2009 at 05:13 PM
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Never underestimate the power of first-mover advantage! I always love when a little game theory can provide a bit of insight into human behavior. From an economics standpoint, there are several reasons why "first-mover advantages" exist in human interaction. But I think in your case with the website, the advantage stems from what are called "switching costs". Just as you explain, once the website is up, there is less incentive to try and change the design in another direction. In a market, once a business firm has made the "first move" (like selling iPods), late entrants must invest extra resources to attract customers away from the first-mover firm. Great post Thomas! Let's all strive to be first-movers in our careers!
Elizabeth Dodson22 December 2009 at 03:19 PM
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Welcome to the blog Thomas :-) There is indeed a lot of power in moving first and this can be a great thing. However.... I am also very aware that it is easy to become overloaded if you are always the person who steps up ahead of the group. I think the key is in finding a balance, where you are proactive and reguarly take the lead, but also maintain control of your workload - as sometimes the "can do" people end up doing more than their fair share! For this reason, my research mentor has also asked me to consider the power of sometimes saying no!