Learning Cohorts

Our tech world is largely shaped by the Rogers Curve. This bell curve describes the market adoption of new technology and is formally called the Innovation Adoption Lifecycle.

This model describes how innovations are gradually embraced by a market, one segment at a time, until they become widely adopted.

It describes how different segments of a market will adopt a new technology or innovation. In the initial stages of market development, there are the Innovators and the Early Adopters.

This model was modified by Geoffrey Moore when he identified a gap between the Early Adopters and the Early Majority. He called this gap a ‘chasm’ and identified that crossing the chasm was the greatest challenge facing the introduction of new technologies or innovations. It has become known as Moore’s Chasm.

The same is true for the adoption of new cultural paradigms. Jami's challenge was finding a way to cross the chasm in her school in order to create a Paradigm Shift.

She identified a couple of teachers who were Innovators and then developed a handful of Early Adopters. She knew that, to cross the chasm, she would depend on the bridge built by those teachers.

Wide adoption happens once an innovation is embraced by the Early Majority. Unlike the Early Adopters, they are more cautious; they don’t believe a pitch. But they will watch others. If they see real value obtained by those whom they can identify with, they will be willing to adopt.

Jami began to carve out time for her Innovators and Early Adopters teachers to share their learning with each other. By doing that, she was strengthening the practices and encouraging them to keep experimenting.

She then began to provide opportunities for those teachers to share what they were learning with other teachers. She also created events for all of the teachers to come together on design challenges to further experience the joyfulness of this learning. She was creating opportunities for teachers to become curious.

Learning begins with Curiosity. Jami was not mandating change, she was creating a culture that encouraged it.

Next: Telling the Story