Diffusion of Innovations
Diffusion of Innovations is the theory of how, why, and the pace at which an innovation spreads through different cultures.
Diffusion of Innovations
Diffusion of Innovations is the theory of how, why, and the pace at which an innovation spreads through different cultures.
In the book "Diffusion of Innovations" by Everett M. Rogers, it beings with this quote:
- "There is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than the creation of a new order of things... Whenever his enemies have the ability to attack the innovator, they do so with the passion of partisans, while the others defend him sluggishly, so that the innovator and his party alike are vulnerable."
Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince (1513)
And In the news recently...
Google designer leaves, blaming data-centrism
Douglas Bowman, Google's visual design leader, is leaving the company after finding the company's reliance on detailed Web page performance data too confining. Read the article here
Roger Everett is most famous for his "Innovation Diffusion Curve to the left" diagram, see below:
In his book he talks about how the adoption of any innovation tends to occur in the following five stages:
- Awareness
Interest
Evaluation
Trial
Adoption
There are rates of adoption which are then determined by an individual's adopter category. Here are the categories:
- Innovators - Individuals that take risks, youngest in age and network with other innovators
Early Adopters - Individuals that adopt an innovation a little later on
Early Majority - Individuals that adopt an innovation even later and show some opinion leadership
Late Majority - These individuals are highly sceptical with very little opinion leadership
Laggards - These are the last individuals to adopt an innovation and show no opinion leadership. They are focused on traditions and are the oldest of all other adopters.
Opinion leaders are individuals who influence others in making good or bad statements about the innovation.
With the above, it is possible to identify numerous initiatives that have failed to make widespread changes or achieve their desired effect. Anyone for instance that is considering an innovation needs to nurcher the late majority and laggards in order to achieve wide-scale change.
Buy the Diffusions of Innovation book on Amazon.
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