Innovation, HR and Early Adopters - technology innovation learning styles - Brief Article

Workforce, Jan, 2001 by Carroll Lachnit

Do you wax nostalgic for your Radio Shack TRS-80 computer? Were you the first on your office block to flip open a Palm Pilot? Could your baby program in Unix before she could say "Mama"? Congratulations. You're an early adopter.

"The early adopter is respected by his or her peers," writes Everett M. Rogers, who coined the term in his classic 1962 book Diffusion of Innovations (Free Press). "The early adopter knows that to continue this esteem...and to maintain central position in the communications networks of the system, he or she must make judicious innovation decisions."

Early adopters aren't merely trendoids or technogeeks. In organizations that are driven by technology and innovation, early adopters are among the people who set the company's course. Is HR what you think of instantly when you hear the phrase "early adopter"? Maybe not. And that's a problem we'll address in a moment.

Early adopters demonstrate an eager acceptance of technology, Rogers says. But they're not the most cutting-edge among us. The real pioneers are the "innovators," who, Rogers says, represent 7.5 percent of the population. Innovators are so driven to make the next leap forward that they're willing to develop their own technology (think Steve Wozniak, introducing his pre-Apple computer at a 1975 Homebrew Computer Club meeting).

The early adopters, who make up 13.5 percent of the population, don't create the technology, but they're in the game early, so they "experience a steep learning/implementation curve." That can mean time spent with tech support, Usenet groups, and the always-cryptic user's manual.

At the other end of the spectrum, we have the "late adopters." They're 16 percent of the population and, according to Rogers's description, they "resist any adoption of technology until it is imposed on them by policy or peer pressure." If your company has an executive who has her assistant print out e-mails for her, you have a late adopter on your hands.

What's the point of this taxonomy? As an HR professional, you really can't afford to be a late adopter. You might not have a job at the end of the decade if you're not further up on the technology curve.

In 21 Tomorrows: HR Systems in the Emerging Workplace of the 21st Century (IHRIM, 2000) Al Doran, president of Phenix Management International, puts it this way: "The HR manager who is not computer literate will be gone before we reach 2010." The Luddite goes the way of the dodo, in other words.

Several stories this month look at the ways HR uses the Internet, a particularly fast-moving technology. You'll see how the Net can help you train more efficiently, keep track of the best applicants in the job market, and mediate disputes in the less heated atmosphere of cyberspace.

In this issue, we're also adding a table of contents page for the WORKFORCE Web site. It points out special online-only features, message boards, and interactive tools to help you achieve the business results you need. If you haven't visited our site before, consider this a personal invitation to stop by www.workforce.com. It's never too late to become an early adopter.