Crossing "The Chasm" in adoption has reversed - an opportunity

On Saturday morning, as part of our "Innovation in Digital Dentistry" session (hosted by James Hamill), one of our topics was the increasing number of "smile design" software packages that allow the simulation of the patient's end result.

There was a time when we thought that Digital Smile Design was a revolution - now we are comparing products from DSD, Align Tech, Straumann and others.

The previous buzz word was "Digital".

The new buzz mnemonic is "AI" - creeping into all of our conversations.

Even in the last few days, I've been reading blog posts and listening to podcasts that speculate about the revolutionary effect that AI is having on every aspect of our lives.

One thing is for sure, the innovation and early adoption areas of The Adoption Cycle are going to be "the place to be" if you want to win in the years ahead.

Being a member of the early or late majority is no longer be safe. The laggards may as well call it day.

Much has been said about "The Chasm" - the gap of interest that has to be crossed to get from innovation to early majority.

I'm going to suggest that "The Chasm" has reversed - that to survive in business we have to cross the gap from right to left - to become early adopters and innovators - or else risk losing our competitive advantage.

This is great news for the smaller, owner-managed, independent private practice - agile enough to innovate.

Bad news for the larger, institutionally-backed corporate - stuck in tradition, bureaucracy and "not invented here syndrome".

Make hay you independents - Innovate!