Making New Ideas a Reality in Your Ministry: How Research Can Help You Bring About Change Our attempts at introducing ministry innovations often succeed or fail for reasons we are not able to identify. However, the principles discovered through the past 50 years of research on innovation diffusion can give us leads, and hopefully a few tools for effective change. Diffusion: “the process in which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system.” (Everett Rogers, 2003, p.5.)
The BIG FOUR of Diffusion: 1. The Innovation Itself. An innovation is anything perceived as new – an idea, practice, or object – whether it’s actually new or not. People need to be convinced of these reasons to adopt the new thing: 1. Some degree of advantage over the current practice. 2. Relatively compatible with what they are used to. 3. Not too complex or hard to pick up. 4. Able to be experimented with on a trial basis. 5. Visible/observable. Especially when the first two factors are strong, people are likely to pick up the change.
2. Communication channels. The ways channels are used to get the word out about a new idea make a significant difference. Most people pick up something new because of a relationship with another person who has already adopted the innovation. Diffusion is intensely social, requiring direct and authentic interpersonal communication.
3. Time. Change takes time. We all know it. Especially in ministry. A decision to change involves a process of: 1. Knowledge (acquiring information) 2. Persuasion (developing an attitude about an innovation) 3. Decision 4. Implementation 5. Confirmation (reinforcing a final decision to accept the change) The general principle: don’t rush. Give adequate time to make sure everyone involved has the right information they need and can pace through the processes of deciding and working out a change.
References used for this material:
• • © 2006 CYFM
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Everett M. Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations, 5th ed. (New York: Free Press, 2003 [orig. 1962]) Kurt Lewin, Field Theory in Social Science; Selected Theoretical Papers, ed. D. Cartwright (New York: Harper and Row, 1951). See correlated article at: http://www.cyfm.net/article.php? article=Dont_Good_Ideas_Fly.html
**This is the cumulative diffusion curve for all adopters. On a frequency basis of new adopters, the adoption follows a bell-shaped curve over time.
4. The Social system. Primary types of “product adopters” within a typical social system: Innovators (2.5%) – venturesome; take risks by adopting new practices and guard the flow of ideas into the community. Tend to move beyond the norms of a given society. • Early adopters (13.5%) - respected and valued members of the society, they are often opinion leaders. Seen in a social system as the “person to check with” about a change. • Early majority (34%) – deliberate decisionmakers, usually well-connected socially but not opinion leaders; weigh the decision for a longer time than early adopters. • Late majority (34%) - skeptical, traditional, cautiously wait for uncertainty to be removed. Need to feel really safe about a change before they will embrace it. • Laggards (16%) – the traditionals, who are the last group to adopt an innovation (if they adopt it at all). They are typically suspicious of change agents and innovations alike.
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Who tends to fall into which categories in your “system”, and how are you caring for them in the process?