The 1% Rule : The Leaders and Everybody else.
I was taking a course this quarter called Technology Transfer, a requirement for my degree.
The description of the course is as follows:
Technology transfer is an umbrella term that refers to the creation, adoption and consequences of new technologies in a variety of settings. This course looks at how a new idea becomes implemented in a system (an organization or society) and the factors that influence the adoption of a new idea. This course also looks at the influence of individuals and groups within the change process and how they affect the acceptance of new ideas. Finally, the course explores the prediction and consequences of new technologies.
In this course, we had learned about the Diffusion Theory and in the basis of innovativeness there were five adopter categories.
Here are the 6 key aspects of the Diffusion Theory:
1. Adopters pass through stages as they accept or reject change.
2. People adopt at different rates.
3. People are influenced by opinion leaders.*
4. Gatekeepers control access to information.
5. Individuals are connected by communication links.
6. Interpersonal influences produce change.
Below is the general percentage of the adopter categories that exist and their characteristics.
2.5% - Innovators - Rash
13.5% - Early Adopters - Respect
34% - Early Majority - Reasoned, Risk-Adverse
34% - Late Majority - Reluctant
16% - Laggards - Resistant
According to “What is the 1% rule?”: http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,1823959,00.html?gusrc=rss,
“It’s an emerging rule of thumb that suggests that if you get a group of 100 people online then one will create content, 10 will “interact” with it (commenting or offering improvements) and the other 89 will just view it.”
“Wikipedia: 50% of all Wikipedia article edits are done by 0.7% of users, and more than 70% of all articles have been written by just 1.8% of all users, according to the Church of the Customer blog (http://customerevangelists.typepad.com/blog/).”
“Bradley Horowitz of Yahoo points out that much the same applies at Yahoo: in Yahoo Groups, the discussion lists, “1% of the user population might start a group; 10% of the user population might participate actively, and actually author content, whether starting a thread or responding to a thread-in-progress; 100% of the user population benefits from the activities of the above groups,” he noted on his blog (www.elatable.com/blog/?p=5) in February.”
Charles Author believes that the “builders” are rare and from my experience it is true that only a few amped individuals with visions step up to the plate. Having long-term visions with practical implementations does take much effort and hardwork but without the proper motivation there is no gain either. Those who are confident in what they do and are also aware of their surroundings are usually the ones that lead. Goals are innate responsibilities for leaders and without a destination there is no essential path. It is also interesting to know that people are attracted to strength. If an individual is noticed to perform duties or responsibilies with positive energy, others will follow.
Above I have one of the key aspects of the diffusion theory followed by an asterisks. In my Tech Transfer course, we also learned about two different types of leaders. There are Formal Leaders and Informal Leaders (Opinion Leaders). The Formal Leaders may be well known by a community but may also just be influential to a group of people. Opinion Leaders on the other hand exist in many different groups or cliques and influence more on a day-to-day basis through social and personal interaction.
Finally, a leader is one who continues to acknowledge to be always a student and not just a teacher, with patience, understanding and the willingness to learn. This also means that the balance between personal development and public endeavors must be maintained.