Today I had a hard day at the office – ahem – at Disneyland. Here’s my learnings about different user adoption strategies courtesy of the various rides and attractions:

– the Tiki Tiki room – follow the leader. The leader shows what to do, and makes it easy for everyone else to join in. Thanks Jose for leading us in the song.
– Pirates of the Carribean – blow the opposition out of the water, and let them sink. Then you have a clear run at running the town like you want to. Could lead to anarchy though, due to no checks and balances.
– Captain EO – once you’ve seen the beauty within, you have to win converts one-by-one. And be willing to pay the price to get there.
– Star Tours – if the idea challenges the foundations of the established order, you’ll need to commandeer the resources you need and head to the white space of the organization to build a rebel outpost.
– Monorail – a word about collaboration strategy. Beware of cool technology that doesn’t do much but take you around in circles. If it isn’t taking you where you need to go, you waste your time and theirs.
– Indiana Jones – if the promised reward in name and fame is enough, everyone will be amazed at what you’ll put yourself and your team through. The risks are great, the logic of your argument may start to fray, but the bold and daring will bring new concepts to the light of day.

That’s enough user adoption theory from my “work” day at Disneyland. On with the show …