Let's Create A Tipping Point: What Academics And Practitioners Can Do, Alone And Together

In the Diffusion of Innovations, Everett Rogers summarizes voluminous research showing that the adoption of new ideas of ways of doing things follows a nonlinear progression. Specifically, the adoption of new ideas follows an S-shaped diffusion curve, with only a small number of highly innovative individuals adopting a change in the beginning. However, once a small number of "opinion leaders" adopt the innovation and begin to persuade others, the adoption rate begins to surge. As more and more people embrace the change, more of those who have held back finally reach their "tipping point." At this stage, the adoption diffuses widely. The potential implications of this idea for the academic-practice gap are profound. First and foremost, it means that not everyone must change the way he or she does things in order for change to occur - far from it. In fact, only a small number of influential people may have to take action now in order to have a very big impact down the road.