A technology architect’s guide to humans part five: . . . sorry, what were you saying?

Sometimes being a technology architect is like being an 18th century French agriculturalist. No, don’t go: hear me out . . .

You may have eaten potatoes Parmentier: fried potatoes with herbs and garlic. You may not appreciate, though, the effort that Antoine-Augustin Parmentier, inventor of the dish, put into getting people like you to eat potatoes.

Parmentier was introduced to the potato as a prisoner of war in Prussia, and came to believe in them as a reliable food source at a time of frequent crop failures, famine and shortages. However, he faced extraordinary cultural and legal resistance from his countrymen. Potatoes were considered to be fit for animal feed only, were believed to cause leprosy in humans, and were even banned from cultivation from 1748.

Parmentier worked to convince the Faculty of Medicine in Paris that potatoes were safe to eat, got the law changed in 1772, and demonstrated the use of potato flour as a viable substitute for wheat flour to supplement the Parisian food supply.

Surely that was enough to win over the general population? Surely reason, science and practicality (and the self evident deliciousness of fried potatoes) were enough for anybody.

Of course not. Parmentier realised that proving the safety and utility of potatoes was only the beginning of his work. He carried out a series of publicity stunts, inviting famous figures such as Benjamin Franklin to potato-themed banquets, and giving bouquets of potato flowers to royalty. He surrounded his potato farm in the countryside with armed guards during the day, giving the impression that he was growing something special and valuable, then sent the guards away at night so that hungry and curious locals could steal his mysterious crop.

It took these tactics and many more to shift public opinion.

What does any of this have to do with technology architecture?

If you are a technology architect, you may recognise the effort it took Parmentier to convince people of a truth which they weren’t interested in, didn’t understand, and didn’t believe.

At HSBC, technology architects aspire to achieve the attributes of Zang Jing Ge: technical excellence, communication mastery and leadership power. For many architects, technical excellence is a natural part of their identity, and represents the expertise they have acquired over time through training and practice. But communication mastery does not always come as easily: for many architects, it is more natural to consult with a few experts, publish a design, present it in design or governance forums, and consider the job of communication done. If the design is good, approved, rational and published, what more is there to do? Anyone who understands it can go and find it.

The persistence and imagination of Parmentier shows us what good communication looks like, and reminds us of the goal of communication. The goal of communication is not just to make ourselves heard, or even to make ourselves understood: it is to get ideas from our head into the heads of others. It is to change minds.

Parmentier’s long journey from eating potatoes, to advocating potatoes, to getting the law changed, to having potato dishes named after him, also reminds us what hard work this can be. It is not enough simply to be heard because, much of the time, the people who can hear us are not listening. And if they are listening, they probably don’t understand. And if they do understand, they probably don’t believe us or respect us.

This is not because people are stupid. It is because humans are prone to inattention and distraction. Their priorities are often not our priorities, especially in the moment. You may think that, standing at the whiteboard, you have the rapt attention of your audience. But at least some of them are thinking about the tasks that didn’t get completed today, or the irritating email they received just before walking into the room, or simply what they are planning to have for lunch (sushi? Or sandwiches?).

Parmentier was smart enough and committed enough to keep going (and keep going, and keep going), as well as to vary his medium and his message. He wrote scientific papers to win over those people who respond to reason and rigour. He got the law changed to sway those people who respect rules. He threw banquets to convince those impressed by spectacle and celebrity. And he created mystery to attract the curious.

We do not have to emulate Parmentier’s tactics exactly: I am not sure which celebrities we could get to come to a banquet themed on microservices architecture. But we can follow his approach: communicate tirelessly and constantly; don’t assume that your audience heard you, listened to you, understood you or believed you, just because you told them the story once; vary your medium and your message to capture the imagination of different types of people. And don’t give up.

The recipe for Parmentier potatoes is pretty simple. The recipe for communication mastery is much more complex, but it is worth learning, and it is best learned through practice.

(This is part of an occasional series of lessons learnt over a long career about how technology architects can work with their fellow humans. Previous parts can be found here: Humans are Human, It’s Not Them: It’s You, Difficult Meetings End; Respect Lasts, They Don’t Know What You Do (And You Don’t Know What They Do).