Newsletter Excerpt: Innovation & Diffusion of Information
Written By: Virginia Blair
Excerpted from our Q3 2024 Newsletter
This quarter’s newsletter is themed around Innovation & Growth, two of my favorite topics, both personally and professionally! During my college years as a Communication Studies Major, I learned about the Diffusion of Information Theory, which “examines how ideas are spread among groups of people,” particularly regarding advances in technology. (Frank, et al) In short, this theory highlights that there is a bell curve pattern which reflects what type of and how many people adopt or embrace new ideas and new technologies, in correlation to how recently the technology or idea has been introduced to the market. (See graphic below.)
You can see from the graphic that there are several “Adopter” categorizations, dividing people into 5 distinct categories/types. (Click here to learn which type you are!) I remember when we first learned about this theory in class, I thought, “Oh, that sounds like someone I know . . . my Dad is certainly one of these Innovator or Early Adopter people!
At that time, my father had been working for many years as a Telecommunications Engineer. He truly loved the industry and had a deep appreciation of new technologies. I remember how excited he was when we got our first household computer, a huge, chunky, gray-colored Dell, when I was 5 years old. He was also ecstatic to get me an N64 and a Gameboy Color when they were released, which I think is pretty cool because not every father got his daughter an N64 or Gameboy (but my younger siblings weren’t old enough yet to play so I got to be the guinea pig😂.) He was equally excited about the release of the iPod, and each variant of the iPod as it progressed eventually into the iPhone. I loved to see his excitement around these new technologies as they burst onto the scene, and he loved sharing them with us kids, especially. And we sure felt lucky to have a Dad who would always surprise us with the newest version of a video game console you didn’t even really need, as opposed to parent you had to beg to buy you one!
Why do I bring this up? Because I also remember that with the releases of each of those new technologies, there were also hosts of skeptics with their own ideas on how these technologies might be dangerous, and/or others who were just generally disinterested in them. So my question is — where on the Adopter spectrum do you fall? While it’s important that we continue to develop moral standards in the way new ideas are invented and popularized, especially with the recent rise of AI technologies, it is equally important to remain open-minded. Being closed-minded about Innovation can easily impede one’s ability to grow, both personally and professionally. There are so many great applications, software, plug-ins, etc. that I use in my daily work to help me stay organized and efficient, many of which I could never have imagined existing when I was a little girl. Innovation can also contribute to simple fun and enjoyment! I used to cart around a CD case of almost 200 CDs for my Portable CD player — now I can listen to virtually every song in the world via Spotify for a couple bucks a month, a music lover’s dream! What’s something innovative you use regularly to help support your daily work or enhance personal life? Shoot me a message and let me know — I’d love to hear your thoughts!