Staying Ahead of our Customers

Jeremiah Owyang has a great post on adoption strategies over at Web Strategy:
I talk a lot about adoption curves since it is such a clear challenge for libraries to address the neds of such diverse markets as communities and institutions.

“Matrix: Be Deliberate In Your Adoption Strategy
Each category has specific benefits and risks, but rather than just behaving in a way that comes natural, I encourage you in your personal and work adoption to be deliberate in your actions.
1. Examine your organizations adoption patterns. First, define how quickly your organization responds and adopts to technologies, and factor into your considerations.
2. Be a Category Ahead Of Your Company. If you’re responsible for new technologies at your company, your personal adoption should be a level or two ahead of the organizations adoption, as you cannot effectively deploy for your company if you don’t personally understand the impacts of the new technologies.
3. Track The Category Ahead Of You. Find an individual that’s above your adoption category (the early adopter watches the innovator) and be sure to watch their behaviors and learn from them. Adopters are often blazing their own trail, and may not ever follow anyone.”
I totally agree with Jeremiah that we should try to be one category ahead of our customers in our thinking and experience. I suppose in libraries the real debate is where that would be!
Stephen