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Neither an Early Adopter Nor a Laggard Be
May 6, 2008

As a frequent speaker, I have a number of favorite statements I trot out at appropriate times (well, I hope they're appropriate). One is the title of this post. It refers to the theory in the famous Everett M. Rogers 1962 book, Diffusion of Innovations, that decribes "how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread through cultures" (Wikipedia).

The graphic to the right (click on it for a larger version) depicts those who create innovations as being the leading edge of a curve that leads into "early adopters", then "early majority" individuals and institutions, then "late majority" adopters and, finally, "laggards". While some libraries and librarians are innovators or early adopters of new technologies, I often tell my audiences that they most likely belong in the early majority. That is, allow those who are willing to place themselves on the bleeding edge to work out the kinks first. After all, they don't call it the "bleeding edge" for nothing.

By being in the early majority you get the benefits of lessons learned by early adopters while setting yourself up to reap the rewards of that innovation for a longer period of time than those in the late majority. Laggards will often have the misfortune of succumbing to the inevitable shortly before it is replaced by the next innovation.

So, to recap, for most individuals and institutions, neither an early adopter nor a laggard be. For those hardy souls who are the innovators and early adopters, you already know who you are, and I'm not about to counsel you to be any different. It's definitely a job for willing volunteers.

Posted by Roy Tennant on May 6, 2008 | Comments (0)