FDR 2404 - A response to Juan's concerns

[KyleG]

In FDR 2404, Juan calls in claiming to be an administrator in a family business of private schools in Guatemala. He expresses an interest in changing the paradigm of education services he offers, but is reluctant because he doesn't know whether parents will buy it or not. Stefan offers a good response, but I feel like he missed actually addressing Juan's concern. Perhaps if Juan's call had not dropped this would have eventually been brought up. Either way, here's my response:

The system you currently have is sub-optimal. You envision an ideal system. You believe the results will be better. You cannot be certain your customers will approve, and many very well may not approve. You can't force them to adopt your system, they will just take their business elsewhere.

I work as a developer at a SaaS company. This is a problem we have to deal with on a frequent basis. Our customers are accustomed to the system as it is. They are reluctant to change, because change involves risk and effort on their parent. To solve this problem, for such changes that would qualify as potentially conflicting, we implement them incrementally and only expose new features on an opt-in basis. Gradually, if the changes and new features do prove demonstrably beneficial, and many of our customers already use it, we can activate it for everyone without much conflict.

My suggestion for Juan is to implement your ideal system as a new program that is opt-in. To establish credibility, enrol your own kids. Share the research and evidence that supports the paradigm. Expect that many will not buy it. Continue to sell what you perceive as the benefits of the new system while using the results as evidence.

[Makalakumu]

This was a great call because I think it illustrates the consumer herd mentality that people are going to face when offering alternatives to the current system we have of educating children.  When I work with children, I have found that many are very uncomfortable with the idea of having more freedom over their learning and will actually ask to be told what to do more.  Of course, these are the after effects of a system that has shaped their minds.  I wonder how fast an incremental approach could actually move and be successful?