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Relative Advantage. What value does the new thing have compared to the old? This is
perceived advantage, determined by the potential consumer of the innovation, not its
makers. This makes it possible for a valueless innovation – from the creator’s perspective –
to gain acceptance, while more valuable ones do not. Perceived advantage is built on factors
that include economics, prestige, convenience, fashion, and satisfaction
Compatibility. How much effort is required to transition from the current thing to the
innovation? If this cost is greater than the relative advantage, most people won’t try the
innovation. These costs include people’s value systems, finances, habits, or personal
beliefs. Technological compatibility is only part of what makes an innovation spread: the
innovation has to be compatible with habits, beliefs, values, and lifestyles.
Complexity. How much learning is required to apply the innovation? If a box of free, high-
quality, infinite battery-life cell phones (and matching solar-powered cell towers) mysteriously
appeared in 9th century England, usage would stay at 0%, as the innovation requires a jump
in complexity that would terrify people. The smaller the perceived conceptual gap, the higher
the rate of acceptance.
Trialability. How easy is it to try the innovation? Teabags were first used as giveaways so
people could sample tea without buying large tins, radically improving the trialability of
brewed tea. Samples, giveaways, and demonstrations are centuries old techniques for
making it risk-free to try new ideas. The easier it is to try, the faster innovations diffuse.
Observability. How visible are the results of the innovation? The more visible the perceived
advantage, the faster the rate of adoption, especially within social groups. Fashion fads are
a great example of highly observable innovations that have little value beyond their
observability. Advertising fakes observability. Many technologies have limited observability,
say, software device drivers, compared to physical products like mobile phones which
people use socially.
Brainstorming
Produce as many ideas as possible
Produce ideas as wild as possible
Build upon each others ideas
Avoid passing judgement
Journal
My field
Other fields
Collaboration
Experimentation
Improvisation
Prototyping
Mediation
Culture. The Japanese invented firearms years before Europeans. But their culture saw the
sword as a symbol of their values: craftsmanship, honour, and respect. Despite the
advantages of using firearms, the innovation was ignored and seen as a disgraceful way to
kill. Innovations do change societies, but they must first gain acceptance by aligning with
existing values.
Dominant Design. The QWERTY keyboard was invented to stop typewriters sticking, but
the design has stuck. Many dominant designs achieve popularity on the back of another
innovation. Better designs might follow, but to gain acceptance, they must improve on that
dominant idea by a sufficient margin to justify the cost of the switch (eg relearning how to
type). The more dominant the design, the more expensive those costs are (eg try innovating
or unifying the shape of electric plugs around the world)
Inheritance and tradition. The US rejection of the metric system is tied to tradition. Some
people confuse comfort for a belief with it actually being good; therefore, inherited ideas are
often protected by the very people they hurt in the name of honouring the beliefs of their
parents and the past
Politics: who benefits? The interests of those in power influenced the adoption, or
rejection, of every innovation in history. Hunger, war and poverty are tough problems, but it’s
in someone’s interest for those problems to continue. Any innovation aimed at solving those
problems must consider politics for it to succeed.
Economics. Innovation is expensive. Will the costs of changing to the new thing be worth it?
Everyone might agree that an innovation is better in the abstract, but the financing required
might be impossible or the risks unreasonable. Dominant designs are expensive to replace.
Often there is only time or money for innovating in one area; other innovations are rejected,
not on their merits, but on their value to the priorities of the moment.
Goodness is subjective. Consumer difference sin values, tastes, and opinions are rarely
explored until after an innovation has been proposed, or even built, leaving innovators with
creations the public does not want. Smart innovators study their customers, mastering their
needs early enough that hose factors can be useful. Eg VHS was adopted because of the 3
hour tape – long enough for movies, whereas Beta tapes were 1 hour. The superior video
quality wasn’t as important
Short-term vs long-term thinking. How long does this innovation need to be used for?
Many superior ideas are rejected by societies interested in cheaper, shorter-term gains. Eg
removing trolleys and trams for more car lanes – cities now regret that move.
Myth #9: Problems and Solutions
Discovering problems actually requires just as much creativity as discovering solutions.
There are many ways to look at any problem, and realising a problem is often the first step
toward a creative solution. John Dewey “A properly defined problem is partially solved”
Frame the problem by picking strong goals – eg Edison’s goal wasn’t “make a working light
bulb”, but “make an electricity system cities can use to adopt my lights”. Hawkins (the
inventor of Palm Pilot) wrote a list of goals: fits in a shirt pocket, syncs seamlessly with PC,
fast and easy to use, no more than $299.