Hello, my friends, it is I Chloe above brand scientist and um I am coming to you with video now.
Um Just because I think illustrating what I wanna talk with you about this week might be easier.
Um So I know very mysterious.
Let's, let's dive right into it.
Welcome to the midweek lab note.
Um So, have you ever been in a position where you have done all the things? Right.
So whether or not it's, you know, you wrote the book, um you were on the big podcast, you did the TED Talk um Right? Like you've, you've done all of the things that are supposed to, you know, once you check them off, your ideas take off, right? Um And still hasn't worked out that way.
Well, there are a lot of reasons that this can be the case.
Tons of reasons, but one that's often overlooked or one that we don't often talk about is this one? Um And let's get a little bit more specific.
So let's say you have um let's say you've written the book, right? And it's a great book, maybe it's even an award winning book, right? Um But it hasn't led to the, like, the huge adoption of your idea that you were hoping to see.
Right.
Well, let's pretend, let's simplify the situation.
Right.
And let's pretend that this dot That I've just drawn is a person, um, and this is a person whom we would like to see, we'd like to see their behavior change.
Right? Whether or not in this case, it's, we want to see them by the book, right.
Um Or even beyond that, right? Like, you know, take what's in the book and um like apply it to their lives and like share it with others and you know what have you, right? Like maybe that's the behavior change we're looking for, right? Whatever it happens to be, it's this person that we're looking to see those things from right now, the reality of the situation is that this person is connected to other people, right? And those people are connected to yet other people so on and so forth, right? Um So they're connected to other people, right? OK.
Excuse me.
So, and let's say this is my, this is the person whose behavior change we're looking to have happen.
Now, how many people directly connected to that? One person need to also adopt this new behavior in order for this person to also adopt that new behavior.
What I'm describing right now is something called an adoption threshold, an adoption threshold is simply an estimation of how many neighbors in this network, right? Um, need to have their behavior change in a similar way.
Um, in order for this person to also change their behavior, now, an adoption threshold can be higher than average.
Um, in a number of scenarios.
Um, the first one is, um, like network location dependent.
I'll put it that way.
Right.
So, depending on where you are in the network, um, your adoption threshold can be higher, right? Um, so if you're like an Oprah, right within the network, right, then your adoption threshold is likely going to be higher, right? Um than someone who is not an Oprah, right? So that's an example, right? That's one scenario where in an adoption threshold might be higher.
A second scenario where in an adoption threshold might be higher is if the idea that we're trying to get adopted is one that shifts the status quo in some way, right? So if you've got a status quo shifting idea and you're looking to have, you know, homeboy over here, adopt said thing um then their adoption threshold is going to be higher than it would have been had the idea not been a status quo shifting one.
OK.
So that's a second scenario where an adopted threshold would be higher, a third one.
And this is one that I don't always say explicitly, but I I should do a better job of explaining this explicitly.
And it's this when you are under recognized, the adoption threshold is almost always going higher.
And this is, this is where that frustration that unrecognized folks feel.
This is a tiny piece of where it comes from, right? Where they will look at themselves and where they have gotten with their own efforts and then they will see the discrepancy, the disparity between where they have gotten with their efforts and where someone who is not underrecognizing has gotten with the same efforts, right? This is part of why, because the adoption thresholds are different between those two people.
And so what that means is, you know, getting to the stakeholder and getting that stakeholders behavior to change has been a less arduous journey for that other person.
So those are three scenarios where in an adoption threshold might be higher than, than average or normal.
Um This is also why a circle of recognition is so important, right? This is why I keep stressing about a circle of recognition.
Um And that's because circle of recognition sort of works as an amplifier, right? So let's say now let's say now that this is you, right? And you're connected to this person who's connected to this person.
And right, so maybe no one who is direct, directly connected to this person over here, right? But like you've still got some, you've still got some interesting connections.
Um And you might even have like an in into this particular part of the network through the stakeholder, right? Um So your circles of recognition as a refresher, those are all the stakeholders that are required for your success, right? Who are required in order to make this behavior change over here happen, right? It's right.
Like this person over here, this person who are looking to see the behavior change happen with, they are your protagonist, right? That's your protagonist and then you have all the other stakeholder types and I'll link um a quick article below where I describe the different stakeholder types, right? But you've got your gatekeepers, you've got your mediators, you've got your advocates, you've got your champions, right? All of these different stakeholder types and what they do is they make it.
So by the time your idea gets to this person over here, you've met the adoption threshold, right? They, they work as sort of a a signal booster or an amplifier, right? Where, right? Your idea travels to this person and maybe this person shows it over here and also over here.
Um and then it goes over here and like, oh, OK, like that person's adoption threshold is met.
And so we've got to check over here and then over here to over here, right? And like, let's say that this person is also connected to this person, right? And so maybe their adoption threshold is more than just one.
You've got this person over here and you've also got this person over here and oop you've then met their adoption threshold.
And so by the time your idea gets to this person over here, we've met their adoption threshold.
That's what the circle of recognition allows us to do.
This is also why it's really important not just to have a circle of recognition and one that is sort of strategically placed in and around um your protagonists and the behavior changes that you're trying to have happen.
But also why it's really important to do things like mapping your network graphically like this, right? Um Because you can't be this strategic without sort of seeing everything in front of you like this.
So that's it from me very briefly, if you have any questions about this, feel free to reply to this email.
Um And I'm happy to answer adoption thresholds are really really key, there's sort of like an underlying mechanism around everything, right? Whether or not it's getting on to a stage that you really want to getting into a room.
Um That is really important for like whatever next level you've got going on, right? Adoption thresholds are present in all of those scenarios and more and so you want to be really aware of the situations where an adoption threshold is going to be higher and what you can do strategically to meet those adoption thresholds so that your ideas can spread.
And I know that folks are probably asking, well, why not just directly make this connection right here, right? Why not just directly make that connection, you know, what sometimes that works, sometimes it does.
But if you're facing the double whammy of having a higher adoption threshold, because um your idea is a status quo shifting one.
And also because you are under recognized, chances are really high that that direct path is not going to be the most effective, the safest or um the best for you, right? Um With the best use of the resources that you have.
So hopefully that's been helpful.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Um, there's a lot more that I can say on this topic, but I'll leave it here for now.
All right.
Talk soon
NC