Distinguished Gartner VP Analyst Mary Mesaglio discusses the profiles of an organisation's early adopters: those who embrace the new, shrug off ambiguity, and love to experiment.
Neophilia
Mesaglio says the first one is called neophilia.
"I get that. It sounds like a terrible disease, but it's a good thing. It means natural attraction to newness and curiosity about new things. You like new stuff, so this is someone naturally attracted to new technology, innovations, and new ways of doing things," she said.
Comfort with ambiguity
"The second characteristic of early innovators is a high level of comfort with ambiguity. This is someone comfortable diving into something new. Even if they don't know the outcome, they're going on a journey and are okay with starting even when they don't know the destination."
Mesaglio explains that early innovators are comfortable with ambiguity and willing to plunge even if they don't know the outcome.
Propensity to experiment
"I remember the words of Jeff Bezos, who famously said it's not an experiment if you already know it's going to work," she said. Mesaglio explains that early innovators like the act of experimenting and finding things out. They are not much to fall in love with the outcome, whether the experiment works or not, but just like the process of exploration and endless trying to see if something new that came up can add value.
"They're not going to be intimidated by the technology, and they're not going to give up after the first try. They're going to keep experimenting and see what this thing might hold for them," Mesaglio shares.
Originally posted in Gartner
