Do you “get it”?

In last week’s press release about Venture Marketing’s decision to join Boundless Network, I was quoted as saying that Ryan Andrews and his team “get it.” What exactly does it mean to “get it”? And, more importantly, do you?

I‘ll start my rant by stating the obvious: the promotional products industry is a laggard one, full of people who like to hem and haw rather than innovate. It’s something I’ve been saying (over and over) for a while now. Change is not a part of the DNA of our industry, as it hasn’t made any significant changes over the last 50 years. Sure, there are small bits of innovation, but I’m talking REAL change.

Every single one of us needs to challenge our thinking if we want to stay ahead of the game and be viable in the market. So here’s the million dollar question: do you “get it”? I challenge you to take a look at the examples below and profile yourself. Are you an innovator, an early adopter or (heaven forbid) a “hem-and-haw” type who falls on the other end of the spectrum?

The first one’s for you analyst business-types who like to get up close and personal with the numbers and understand the trends. This graph is a classic, created by the late Everett Rogers and discussed in detail in Geoffrey Moore’s Crossing the Chasm.

• the first 2.5% of the adopters are the “innovators”
• the next 13.5% of the adopters are the “early adopters”
• the next 34% of the adopters are the “early majority”
• the next 34% of the adopters are the “late majority”

the last 16% of the adopters are the “laggards”(from http://www.nngroup.com/reports/life_cycle_of_tech.html)

So where do you fit in this spectrum?

My second example involves four characters from Spencer Johnson’s Who Moved My Cheese? Sniff, Scurry, Hem and Haw think they have all the cheese they could ever want, but one day they wake up, and the cheese is gone! I think that every industry professional should read this story about little people in search of new cheese. It takes a maybe an hour to get through (for a slow reader); even though the words in this book are so simple, the message is a powerful one. Click here for a slideshow that gives an overview of the book and its key lessons.

So. Do you “get it”? Your success might depend on it.

-JB

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