Give a little at a time rather than taking away

Give a little at a time rather than taking away

I'm sure there's research somewhere that explains this phenomenon*, but in my experience, most people are more bothered when you take something away from them than they are when you give them very little to start with and add as needed.

Here's what I've seen: if you give your database users full access to everything (e.g., full admin rights), and then at some point decide to take some of that access away, even if they never used the functionality you're taking away, they will perceive this as a slight or punishment or a loss.

On the other hand, if you give them very limited rights and then add more rights as they are needed, you'll hear very little complaining at all.

So when you're implementing a new AMS, or you're adding new users to an existing system, start by giving the users as little access as possible and add more as they need it, rather than giving them everything and taking things away. Everyone will be much happier!

===

*It turns out this phenomenon is called "loss aversion."

Wes's Wednesday Wisdom Archives

Where is that data?

October 30, 2019

Where is that data? This is what data management nirvana looks like: When the question starts with […]

Be deliberate, but act quickly

October 23, 2019

Be deliberate, but act quickly Be deliberate, but act quickly. These are my words of […]

Why associations don’t like the “S” word

October 16, 2019

Why associations don’t like the “S” word A couple of weeks ago I asked my […]

The “S” stands for “Standard”

October 9, 2019

The “S” stands for “Standard” In a conversation with a past client, we were discussing […]

Is that meaningless data?

September 25, 2019

Is that meaningless data? I’m not a big quotes guy, but one of the few […]

Be aware of unintended consequences

September 18, 2019

Be aware of unintended consequences I’ve written before that every decision involves a trade-off. When […]

Positive change is harder to see

September 11, 2019

Positive change is harder to see Humans are wired to see negative change because we […]

MVP: Minimum Viable Product

September 4, 2019

MVP: Minimum Viable Product In product development there is a concept known as MVP, or […]

You always need a reason for collecting data

August 28, 2019

You always need a reason for collecting data When you ask for data from someone […]

If you’re unhappy, speak up!

August 21, 2019

If you’re unhappy, speak up! My clients will often ask me something along the lines […]

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top