The cure for scurvy is one example of numerous documented cases of extremely important innovations which might have been expected to have succeeded quickly, but which did not.
We cannot emphasise this strongly enough: our studies show that a common cause for lack of success is that the practitioner or change agent attempting to promote an activity fails to find out how the potential adopters perceive it...
For an innovation to succeed, there must be an absence of incompatability with society's attitudes and mores, but this is not enough. There must also be the positive characteristics of meeting people's immediate and particular needs, being easy to try, and with good availability and clearly observable results...
Opinion leaders are crucial in spreading the word about the value of an innovation or growth activity. They either make an idea so acceptable that it spreads quickly through the network or else they give it the kiss of death. How do you identify opinion leaders? By asking a few people in any particular network who is the person whose opinion they value, a consensus will become clear...
A rough rule of thumb is that personal contact produces eight attendees (to personal growth workshops) for every one generated by impersonal communications...
To persuade someone to adopt an innovation, the most effective way is generally to tell stories, for instance the case history of someone who had adopted the activity with successful results. Here it is important that the case history is about someone with whom the potential adoptee can identify...
Research shows that when 10 to 25% of the population has adopted an innovation, the whole process becomes self-sustaining. From this point onwards, there is so much forward momentum that the idea catches on like wildfire through personal networks; little effort is needed to encourage more and more people to adopt it.
The booklet is directed at humanistic psychology practitioners wishing to increase the size of their practice, but, as these extracts show, it has a wider relevance for any aspiring social inventor. 'Spreading Personal Growth in Society', published by the Artemis Trust, 19 Park Hill, Ealing, London W5 2JS (tel 081 997 9401), L5.