Michele McLellan makes a very smart point in saying that leaders of efforts to change newsroom culture seem to think once they’ve won over the small group that tries new things, they’ve won the battle.
Everett M. Rogers identified four basic groups of people in a culture-change context: Innovators who are the first to change, about 2.5 percent; early adopters who follow immediately after the innovators, about 13.5 percent; early majority, about 34 percent; late majority, another 34 percent; and laggards, about 16 percent. Combining the innovators and early adopters gives a balanced group with one-sixth on either extreme and one-third on either side of the middle.
- The Rogers Adoption/Innovation Curve
Shown that way, it’s clear that gaining buy-in from the left side of the curve, while important (change that doesn’t have the innovators and early adopters on board is almost always either doomed or deeply resented), falls way short of the critical mass necessary for culture change.
McClellan points out that innovators and early adopters are likely to try new things whether you want them to or not, and thus the meat of the battle is for the early majority.
She recommends giving these folks a couple of things:
- Specifics. What you want produced, with examples and models. Use input from innovators and early adopters to create processes and products.
- Training. (Do I need to point out that this is a hobby horse of mine? Didn’t think so.) Allow opportunities to apply what they’ve learned and to experiment (and fail) in a safe environment. Don’t forget vocabulary; getting people speaking the same language greases the skids of any change.
- Clear communication of goals and priorities. A big part of this is unity of message. Different messages from the top executive and the immediate supervisor confuses and stresses staff members.
Finally, McLellan advocates leaving the laggards (many of whom will be vocal or passive agressive) out of management’s focus, save holding them accountable for their performance. Oiling those squeaky wheels just robs you of resources to focus on the hearts and minds you can win.
