Where Are You on the Teal Adoption Curve?

 By Kenneth Hellem and originally published here.

Where are you on the Teal Adoption Curve?

In my last post I promised that this one would be about Teal practices. Guess what.. I lied. Well, perhaps more of a side track than a lie, but I promise I’ll get to the practices soon.

I’ve been thinking about why people choose to subscribe to a idea. Why is it that I jumped on Teal immediately, while others sit tight, are skeptical or straight out against it?

I think the answer is twofold. The first one is preference, and the second is appetite for risk.

Preference

Preference is about whether or not you like something. Whether it resonates with you. Preference is based on previous experiences and values. I love Apple products, but would never touch anything from Samsung. It’s not rational, but related to my personal preference. Somehow Apple’s philosophy is aligned with my own personal values and buying their products becomes a no-brainer (even though it’s a very expensive addiction).

Some will naturally gravitate towards Teal based on their values, experiences and world view. Some will not.

Appetite for risk

Appetite for risk is more about timing. Given that you like something, when will you get on the train? Will you be the first to get that Apple watch? Or will you wait until your friends have tested it? Until they release the second generation perhaps? Or perhaps it’s not for you anyway? Are you the first to wear the newest fashion trend, or are you like me, always two seasons late? Let’s not even talk about hipsters 😉

Being first is scary. No one’s ever tested it, and there is no proof that it will work. The next generation will undoubtedly be both better and cheaper, right? Why invest time, energy and money in something that might fail?

Well someone’s gotta go first, right? Or else nothing will ever change. Fortunately some people like to be first. Some people get excited about new technology, new fashion, and yes.. new ideas. And when the first ones prove that it doesn’t fail, a few others might follow. They’ll tell their friends, and suddenly everyone in Brooklyn and Stockholm is growing a beard and wearing round glasses.

The adoption curve explained

This is what Rogers Everett talks about in his book diffusion of innovations. It’s better known as the technology adoption curve, but it works for ideas as well, so let’s just call it the adoption curve.

It conveniently splits us into five buckets, which describe when and why we choose to adopt an innovation.

Innovators are risk takers who have the resources and desire to try new things even if they fail.

Early Adopters are selective about which technologies/ideas they start using. The are considered the “one to check in with” for new information and reduce others’ uncertainty about a new technology by adopting it.

Early Majority take their time before adopting a new idea. They are willing to embrace it as long as they understand how it fits with their life.

Late Majority adopts in reaction to peer pressure, emerging norms, or economic necessity. Most of the uncertainties around an idea must be resolved before they adopt.

Laggards are traditional and make decisions based on past experience. They are often economical unable to take risk on new ideas.

So let’s practice… Innovators buy the Apple watch, because it’s new. Early Adopters buy the newest iPhone once their old one is due for replacement. Early Majority ask the Early Adopters what to buy, and after considering lots of options they might buy an iPhone, or a Galaxy. Late Majority is happy with any phone as long it can make phone calls, and the Laggards still use a fax machine.

I’ve given this some thought and find that the adoption curve fits quite nicely with the concept of Teal (Thanks Michael for making the connection).

Let’s look at where I am, and a few of my friends are, on the Teal Adoption Curve:

I love the idea, and am both willing an able to take risk. I’ll bet my entire company on testing out a brand new model based on nothing more than a book, and some deep thinking.

My friend Ebbe, is interested in Teal, but is happy to wait on the sideline while I experiment. He’ll be watching my every move, and maybe somewhere down the road he’ll make the leap.

My friend and roommate Johan is a sensible guy. He gets it, and is intrigued by the ideas, but has no urge to give up everything to play around with an untested philosophy. Perhaps later, after Ebbe is convinced 😉

Another friend, also named Johan, has a management position in a very successful ‘orange’ company. He has no urge or need to change anything. He’ll listen to my babbling cause he’s a good friend, but probably wont pick up a copy of the book anytime soon. Johan also uses a Samsung mobile phone, which explains a lot.

My new friend, the receptionist at the guesthouse I’m staying at here in Kerala, will probably not be switching for a while. He dutifully comes to work every morning but does not know what an organisation model is. I had to fill out my passport information on two separate paper forms before checking in (which took about 45 minutes), and I’m pretty sure there’s a fax machine somewhere 🙂

Afterthought

So what does it all mean? I think it means it will take a while before Teal is the norm. Right now we’re in the early days. There are a few brave innovators who are leading the way, and some early adopters who are watching.

Once we ‘prove’ that Teal could work, more will join, and at some point we’ll hit critical mass.

I think we’ll see a lot of interesting things happen over the next few years, and hope that we’ll see large-scale societal change more quickly than many would expect.

So, now that we’ve learned about curves… Where are you? Add your new title in the comments, [on the original post or below] and you might just receive a private message, an email or a fax…