| Now in its fifth edition, Diffusion of Innovations is a classic work on the spread of new ideas. It has sold 30,000 copies in each edition and will continue to reach a huge academic audience. In this renowned book, Everett M. Rogers, professor and chair of the Department of Communication & Journalism at the University of New Mexico, explains how new ideas spread via communication channels over time. Such innovations are initially perceived as uncertain and even risky. To overcome this uncertainty, most people seek out others like themselves who have already adopted the new idea. Thus the diffusion process consists of a few individuals who first adopt an innovation, then spread the word among their circle of acquaintances--a process which typically takes months or years. But there are exceptions: use of the Internet in the 1990s, for example, may have spread more rapidly than any other innovation in the history of humankind. Furthermore, the Internet is changing the very nature of diffusion by decreasing the importance of physical distance between people. The fifth edition addresses the spread of the Internet, and how it has transformed the way human beings communicate and adopt new ideas. |
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 THE Foundation Work for Driving Change |
| Review Date: August 19, 2004 |
| Reviewer: T. Gorham, KC Metro USA |
Virtually every piece of change management literature that I have read since being introduced to Diffusion of Innovation either has its foundation in this book or its thesis can be understood in terms of Everett's framework. Do not let the 1962 date of the first edition (up to fifth edition at this writing), make you question the work's currency. While it is regularly called a classic, it is in no way an antique.
One caveat. Whether you are going to respond to D of I as positively as I did will depend in part on your cognitive style. If you are comfortable reading about abstractions that grew out of research from largely non-business fields of study and are comfortable personally having to make the leap from theory to practical application, you will value this book. If on the other hand you need a clearly defined process for applying the framework and have a hard time generalizing non-business research to your own world, you probably want to look elsewhere. Though Diffusion of Innovation is more abstract and less business focused, I personally find D of I to have more practical value than works such as Daryl Conner's Managing at the Speed of Change or John Kotter's Leading Change, both of which I feel are better at creating a sensitivity to change management concepts and fueling a sense of need for "expert" consulting resources than they do providing tools and knowledge.
I have used Rogers' framework to craft change programs in corporate and consulting environments and can confirm that, if you are willing to make an investment in understanding how its concepts can be applied within your context, D of I is an invaluable resource.
Bottom line: a great framework based on sound research, well written and entertaining, and, if you can make the leap from abstraction to application, eminently practical.
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One of the BEST "business" books ever written - INC mag
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| Review Date: August 7, 1999 |
| Reviewer: Randy Burge, Santa Fe, New Mexico USA |
| Dr. Rogers is a brilliant sage whose lifelong quest for understanding how and why people adopt or deny innovation began, he tells me, on his family's farm in Iowa as a boy. At a young age he observed that some farmers were quick to adopt the latest innovations while many others were slower or even resistant to change. He also noticed that adoption didn't always equal success, nor did the refusal to change. So whether your gig is plowshares or computers or languages or healthcare or just about anything, you will find this book fascinating and illuminating. The book takes an "innovation" tour around the globe and through history with poignant examples of how new ways are diffused into societies. INC. magazine recently named this book as one of the 25 most important books written for understanding commerce. Ev is truly one of the wise men of today. |
A Classroom Teacher's Perspective
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| Review Date: March 2, 2000 |
| Reviewer: Anne Jolly, Warrior, Alabama |
| In my "real life" I am a classroom teacher who is working to establish collaborative study groups in two middle schools for the purpose of researching, examining, and improving teaching practice. Schools are organized to remain the same - not to change. This book has been invaluable in helping me understand the change process, things to consider when implementing change, and ideas for making change more palatable to teachers and administrators. I did not personally find it to be a "quick" read, but I found that the time I spent poring over the chapters paid real dividends. |
Packed With Knowledge!
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| Review Date: May 6, 2004 |
| Reviewer: Rolf Dobelli, Switzerland |
| Why would a villager draw polluted drinking water from a canal where a dead donkey floats instead of using a nearby tap to get clean drinking water? Why did it take hundreds of years for the British Navy to give sailors oranges and lemons when tests had proven that citrus fruit cured the scurvy that killed sailors and left vessels under-manned? Why do eminently sensible things not happen? If you've ever wondered, this book will give you the answers. It's a thick, heavy, academic tome, but spiced with abundant anecdotes and observations that make it an easy, enjoyable read. This is the rare book that combines solid intellectual content with thought-provoking entertainment. We highly recommend this classic from 1962 to all audiences, but especially those whose business it is to understand and use the social mechanisms through which innovations must diffuse. |
Spectacular review how we move companies forward
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| Review Date: May 31, 1999 |
| Reviewer: sdecherney@christianacare.org, Wilmington, Delaware |
| Why the world is not speaking Everett M. Rogers name in the same breath as Edward M. Demings is a mystery to me. Prof Rogers has lucidly described how information is diffused throughout companies and communities. If you want to know how to get information to the next hire, read this book. Additionally, like Edward Tufte's books on graphical presentation of data, Prof Rogers book is filled with fun stories of successes and failures. Read why we have electric and not more efficient gas refrigerators or why it took 250 years for the British Admiralty to adopt citrus fruit for its sailors to prevent death from scurvy. This is a must read for anyone in corporate America |
Excellent treatment of neglected subject
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| Review Date: November 30, 1997 |
| Reviewer: , |
| "Innovations" are not just new products and technologies. It also includes ideas and the patterns that have been called "memes", indeed all social changes that require the voluntary cooperation of the members of society. This is the best of the books on this important and neglected subject. Indeed, it is one of the few. It should be required reading for anyone concerned about social change. One of the more interesting results of research in this area is that innovations diffuse through a society not as the result of broadcast messages but from direct contact between earlier and later adopters and the example provided to the latter by the former. Broadcast media are mainly useful for reinforcing this process. It is also interesting for the light it shines on competitive diffusion processes, such as the competing ideologies of contenders in a political conflict. Some innovations have a higher coefficient of diffusion than others, and, all other factors being equal, will prevail even if they lack objective merit. |
Masterful Treatment
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| Review Date: January 3, 2002 |
| Reviewer: , TX, AZ, CA, MA |
| Well organized and full of relevant real-world case illustrations, this book is exceptionally well-done. Both educational and thoroughly entertaining. As complete as a textbook on the subject yet highly readable. |
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