The diffusion of innovations is a social process, even more than a technical matter
The diffusion of innovations is a social process, even more than a technical matter
Here are two ideas from my book, Reconstructing Inclusion: Making DEI Accessible, Actionable, and Sustainable and other texts I leaned on in writing it. In addition, I’ve included one quote, a book recommendation, and a video or article that has inspired or influenced me and hopefully will resonate with you, too. (That’s ✌🏿+ 💡📚➕).
Page 215
Diffusion of Innovations
"As discussed in the chapter on meritocracy, we know that a substantial amount of advantage people have isn’t cognitive or genetically based. Generational networks, particularly heavily bonded ones, often provide a head start.
The advantage, however, is not fixed. It is primarily about information, how that information is diffused, and who the recipients of that information are. In fact, when it comes to the diffusion of ideas leading to innovations, the more similar, or what sociologist and author Everett Rogers notes as the more homophilous one’s network is, the harder it is for an innovation to take hold. Rogers says, “This tendency for more effective communication to occur with those who are more similar to a change agent occurs in most diffusion campaigns. Unfortunately, those individuals who most need the help the change agent provides are least likely to accept it. In other words, in organizational life or entrepreneurship, when one is working to sell a new idea or innovation, it is beneficial to have diffusion that taps into heterophilous networks of difference.
Given that every organization with a desire for sustainable growth has a focus on innovation, it’s important to couple that desire with an understanding that robust innovation diffusion requires channels characterized by heterophily (network diversity) and that “the diffusion of innovations is a social process, even more than a technical matter.”
This means that what’s important to organizations related to inclusion and difference is of significant value to business standing. It is possible that insufficient attention to how and through whom innovations and ideas flow could unknowingly limit a firm’s capacity to move thinking from idea to innovations in the most expedient manner—thus decreasing the probability of adoption within a relevant time span."
Photo by Nik on Unsplash
Page 200
"My wife, Martina, is a non-citizen resident (at the time of this writing) in a country where she was born, raised, has lived in her entire life, and speaks three of the four official languages (along with five other languages spoken in Europe). As an American, not having automatic citizenship seemed bizarre to me when I first learned about it. However, she is clear that it was a choice then, and while she didn’t act on getting her Swiss citizenship, instead opting for filial piety and not giving up her Spanish nationality inherited at birth (which was a requirement at the time), she considers herself as belonging to both cultures and countries.
Her straddling the Spanish culture into which she was born (her parents emigrated from Spain to a French-speaking part of Switzerland before she was born) with the more Germanic one she acquired after moving to the German-speaking part of Switzerland in her early twenties gives her a cultural lens for distinctions and an ability to navigate across them as few other people have.
And while my global travels, diverse friendships, vocation, intrinsic and extrinsic drive, and knowledge about cultures have boosted my cultural intelligence (CQ), my wife has a plethora of learned behaviors and a reflexive capacity to prepare for and adjust to situations.
Our interactions as a couple over the years have produced much comic relief, especially as our vocabularies across the four languages spoken in our home and family overlap. When Martina says to me (what I hear) that she is “working [at] home,” I have come to know that she is on her way home on foot instead of on the tram. And when I start to use obscure American slang or vocabulary, and she looks at me puzzled (we even speak different English), I can pause and change my word choice more rapidly.
The growth of our relationship has required that we think about our thinking, as one would use metacognitive strategies, and adjust our behaviors when we see misunderstanding emerging. Sometimes Martina is quite culturally Spanish; other times, she is more Swiss-French or Germanic, and I am increasingly less American, and she appreciates my learning."
💡A Quote
“Treating symptoms, teaching to the test, gathering statistics… all of these forms of engagement have something in common… blindness to the complexity of the issue being addressed.”
― Nora Bateson, Small Arcs of Larger Circles: Framing through other patterns
📚A Book
Photo Credit: Amazon.com
Small Arcs of Larger Circles: Framing through other patterns
➕A Podcast
Nora Bateson, “Complexity Between the Lines” on The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens
A snippet:
“In our culture, we can describe the parts. We are much less adept at describing the relationship between the parts.”
I hope this was helpful. . . Make it a great day! ✌🏿
In this episode, Amri unpacks the social media backlash and the polarized opinions surrounding “Don’t Call Me Karen,” a series of dialogues facilitated by Uber’s Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Bo Young Lee. He encourages listeners to consider Lee’s profound message and the need to challenge our own strategic ignorance in order to foster systemic change.