I think everyone agrees that we are going through a period of profound change in Ireland at present.  Organisations are particularly affected and therefore the people that work in them are particularly affected by the changes

It is interesting therefore to think about how people react to and move through the change process.  The reality of course is that not everyone moves through the process of change at the same rate. One of the most influential publications on the subject is by Everett M Rogers in his 1962 (yes - the year 1962!) book Diffusion of Innovations.  In the book, Rogers shows there are five different classifications for how rapidly persons move through the change process:

Innovators

Early Adopters

Early Majority

Late Majority

Laggards

An INNOVATOR (2.5% of the population & venturesome) is the first individual to accept a new idea, and the highest risk taker of the five groups. Generally, this person(s) takes too great a risk to be locally accepted. They are generally highly educated, may be younger than the rest of the group, and usually participate more widely in organised groups.

EARLY ADOPTER (13.5% of the population & respected) also are generally younger people or newer groups with more formal education than the remaining three groups. They tend to "reason out" which alternative new idea is best. Even at this stage, the risk may be too great for early adopters to be locally accepted. This group often has democratic leadership, and is active in a variety of affairs.

The EARLY MAJORITY (34% of the population & deliberate) consists of individuals who follow the early adopters, and often looked to as the real leaders. Education and the socioeconomic level tends to be somewhat less, and the average age is somewhat older. They rarely participate at local or national levels.

LATE MAJORITY (34% of the population & skeptical) individuals wait until almost all the risk is eliminated before trying a new idea. There is less participation for this group in community affairs and therefore their exposure to new ideas is less. This is the largest grouping in terms of numbers except for the laggards.

LAGGARDS (16% of the population & traditional) strongly resist change, generally has the lowest formal educational and socioeconomic levels of all groups, are usually the oldest. This group reminds us that there are some people who will always oppose change. Never expect full support in your community.

Can you think about people you work with or that you know? Do they fit onto any of the categories listed above?  More importantly, if you interact with them frequently, what implications are there for you depending on their grouping?  How can the knowledge you now have be used to improve your chances of successfully bringing about change?

At LMI we are change specialists - in particular we work with people to secure lasting changes in attitude, behaviour and results. The Total Leader Programme has been designed to help leaders deliver the results required in the current circumstances.  For more information about how you could benefit from further involvement with LMI please contact me on 01 278 8313.