COVID-19 has dramatically reshaped our culture. In particular, the pandemic has exponentially increased the speed at which businesses are adopting technology. Top companies are investing in new tech on a weekly basis, compared to years prior which was, at best, monthly or quarterly.
According to a recent survey by McKinsey & Company, top performing organizations have invested heavily in cloud-based infrastructures, cybersecurity, and hiring new talent to fill the talent gap in technology. The survey repeats throughout that laggards will have a major challenge catching up to their competitors who are “technologically endowed.”
So, where on the spectrum of the diffusion of innovation do you want your business to be? Innovators and early adopters are eager to accommodate new technology and try new ways to increase performance. Better tech capabilities are directly linked to better economic yield. We’ll guide you through the stages of technology adoption, problems associated with lag, and how to be a leader in the construction industry’s notoriously slow adoption of new tech.
The Five Stages of the Diffusion of Innovation
The Diffusion of Innovation, a theory popularized by researcher Everitt Rogers in 1962, explains how over time an idea or product gains momentum through demographic and psychological characteristics of defined groups. It highlights how people adopt a new idea, behavior, or in this case, technology.
Technology adoption refers to the acceptance, incorporation and mobilization of new technology. The five stages of this lifecycle are based on how fast these groups (by percentage) are jumping on the wagon compared to the rest of the population.
Innovators (2.5%)
The smallest group in the lifecycle, innovators are risk-takers. They are more radical when it comes to technology and the first to adopt. They don’t mind if the product is brand new on the market, they’re happy to be the testers and contribute to product development and advancement.