A past client of mine recently told me: "You inspire confidence and calmness which people need when going through an AMS transition."

This got me thinking about two behavioral attributes that I think are absolutely critical to success when going through any major technology transition: patience and grace.

Technology transitions, no matter how well conceived and executed, are extremely disruptive for most organizations. In most cases, staff is being asked to do work in addition to their "normal" jobs, and they are often working on something in which they have no specific expertise or past experience. In other words, they're learning as they go! So everyone (from senior management to front-line staff) needs to apply a heavy dose of patience while working on these projects.

(And for those who know me well, yes, the irony is not lost on me that I'm a remarkably impatient person. I like to think I'm impatient with systems and processes, not people.)

One definition of grace is "courteous goodwill." A good application of grace is to forgive mistakes. The reality is, many mistakes are going to be made, probably far more mistakes than most are accustomed to seeing. Dealing with all of this requires grace.

And remember, the more of these projects you have going at one time, the more patience and grace will be required.

So as you work through that new technology project, make it your mantra: patience and grace, patience and grace. You'll feel better about yourself and you'll probably have a more successful project.