What Leaders and Managers Can Learn from Crossing the Chasm
Rolling out a new initiative to the whole organization at once, using the same pitch that excited the early enthusiasts, is the specific trap Crossing the Chasm names, and it's an easy one to fall into when early buy-in feels like proof you're ready to scale.
The whole book, compressed
This edition works through 4 core lessons — take them one at a time, not all at once.
What's different for your conditions
Tap whichever ones sound like you. Nothing here is sent or saved — it's just for your own noticing.
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The core lessons, applied to you
Understand that different audiences adopt new things for different reasons
The early adopters on your team embraced a new initiative because they like being first, but the larger, more cautious group that needs to follow requires proof of reliability, and the pitch that worked on the first group often fails with the second.
A manager keeps pitching a new process with the same energy and vision that won over early adopters, and more cautious team members remain skeptical because that pitch doesn't address their actual concerns about reliability.
Identify one part of your current pitch for a new initiative that appeals to excitement, and add a piece that instead demonstrates proof and reliability for cautious team members.
Pick one specific segment to win completely, rather than appealing broadly too soon
Focusing on fully proving a new initiative with one specific team builds more credibility than rolling it out to every team at once before it's proven anywhere.
A manager rolls a new process out organization-wide immediately, and inconsistent early results across many teams undermine confidence in the initiative before it's had a chance to prove itself anywhere.
Identify the one team where you could fully prove a new initiative works, and focus your rollout there before expanding.
Deliver a genuinely complete solution, not just the exciting core idea
Teams considering a new initiative need to see a genuinely complete, reliable process, not just the exciting core idea that won over the initial team.
A manager presents the exciting core benefit of a new initiative without addressing the practical support, training, or troubleshooting a more cautious team actually needs to feel safe adopting it.
Identify what "complete" means for the next team you're trying to win over, beyond the core benefit, and address the biggest gap.
Expand deliberately, one segment at a time
Once one team has genuinely adopted a new initiative successfully, expanding to the next team deliberately protects the credibility built with the first.
Rolling out today's broader initiative and fully proving it with one team first aren't opposites — full success with one team usually earns faster buy-in from the next than a simultaneous rollout to everyone.
Name one thing, honestly
Is there a specific team where you could fully prove a new initiative works, rather than rolling it out everywhere at once?
Good. Now look back at the "Try this" line under whichever lesson feels most connected to what you just wrote, and treat that as this week's actual assignment — not all 4 at once.
The practices from this edition
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Run this for seven days
Identify what "complete" means for the next team you're trying to win over, beyond the core benefit, and address the biggest gap.