The Emergence of The Relationship Economy The New Order of Things to Come

The Bell Curve Meets the S-Curve:The Bell Curve Meets the S-Curve:The speed of change in learning environments

Which curve are you?

• Educators traditionally understand the bell-curve

• Innovators (and those who follow them) talk more about the S-curve

Bell Curve

S-curve

Acceptance of Innovations

Depends on whether you are a(n)• innovator• early adopter• early majority• late majority• laggard

Innovators: Venturesome• Social networks outside the community• Control of substantial financial resources

– Help absorb possible losses• Able to understand and apply complex

technical knowledge• Able to cope with a high degree of

uncertainty• Desire for rash, daring, risky• Willing to accept occasional setback• Plays gatekeeper for new information flow

Early adopters: Respect

• Social network is locally concentrated• Highest degree of opinion leadership• Generally sought out by change agents• Respected by peers, embody success• Makes judicious innovation decisions• Shares subjective evaluation

Early majority: Deliberate

• Interact frequently with peers• Seldom in position of opinion leadership• May deliberate before adopting

Late majority: Skeptical

• Adoption may be – Economic necessity– Result of peer pressure

• Don’t adopt until others have• Relatively scarce resources• Uncertainty must be removed

Laggards: Traditional

• Near isolates in their social networks• Past is point of reference• Suspicious of innovations and change

agents• See resistance as rational

Socioeconomic differentiators

• Earlier adopters have more formal education• Earlier adopters have higher social status• Earlier adopters have more upward mobility• Earlier adopters are part of larger organizations

Personality distinguishers

• Earlier adopters have more empathy• Earlier adopters are less dogmatic• Earlier adopters handle distractions better• Earlier adopters have greater rationality• Earlier adopters have more intelligence• Earlier adopters are better able to cope

with uncertainty and risk• Earlier adopters are less fatalistic• Earlier adopters have higher aspirations

Communication behavior

• Earlier adopters have more social participation

• Earlier adopters are more highly interconnected in their networks

• Earlier adopters have more connection outside their main network

• Earlier adopters have greater exposure to mass media and interpersonal communication channels

• Earlier adopters have a higher degree of opinion leadership

Where are you?

• Innovators (2.5%)– Venturesome

• Early adopters (13.5%)– Respect

• Early majority (34%)– Deliberate

• Late majority (34&)– Skeptical

• Laggards (16%)– Traditional

Caveats

• The S-curve is innovation-specific• The S-curve describes only

innovations that are successful (many are not).

• The S-curve is not inevitable.

References

• Rogers, Everett M. (2003). Diffusion of Innovations (5th Ed.). New York: Free Press.

The Emergence of The Relationship Economy The New Order of Things to Come

The Bell Curve Meets the S-Curve:The Bell Curve Meets the S-Curve:The speed of change in learning environments