This is specifically to Chris but also to anybody who is interested in the topic - which Chris raised on our SAL call today, regarding how to influence change:
From this article, which i thought was good but had a great paragraph pulled below.
Here is the paragraph, which is about halfway through.
you learn how to influence people that don’t have to listen to you.
How do you do that?
You have to have enough technical chops that people respect your opinion when you have to deliver it. And then you need to be judicious in the way in which you deliver the opinion.
Ninety-five percent of the time, the organization is going to do the right thing, and you go through a process that allows people to reach consensus. Then there’s five percent of the time when you have to take the lead and do something that’s unpopular. But you can’t do it unless you have the technical expertise and people respect you enough to even include you in the discussion.