I want to be a Transformer

[mrsbrown]

From: http://www.isf.uts.edu.au/whoweare/CRdn_2002.pdf 

Innovation Diffusion Theory


"I call the early adopters Transformers, for two reasons: They are the real doorkeepers

to the transformation of a culture, and they often work like an electrical transformer,

stepping down the voltage of the innovation and easing it into the mainstream

gradually, at a speed the system can safely absorb.

Transformers are leaders among mainstream people (in the group, the company, or the

society at large), who are open to new ideas but cautious about which ones they

promote, because they want to maintain their status.

If the Transformers embrace an idea, the Mainstreamers (the majority of the culture in

question, who watch the Transformers for cues on what new ideas to adopt) are almost

sure to follow (perhaps at a safe distance).

To make sure that the Mainstreamers do follow their lead, the Transformers may alter

the idea by toning it down, reducing its radicalness, using it in a way the Innovator

never intended, or using only part of it".