Canyoneering & Adoption Curve

Looking at canyoneering through the lens of the Adoption Curve

Recently I came across an interesting opinion piece on how people adopt beliefs, trends and ideas and go through this process of adoption. The piece offers the notion that people are predisposed to fit these stages, rather than engaging in an objective analysis to justify their adoption behaviors:

1. Innovators

2. Early Adopters

3. Early Majority

4. Late Majority

5. Laggards

In canyoneering, I can see this same process in the adoption of gear, rigging, practices and beliefs, but at different speed rates. We canyoneers seem very open to be in the spectrum of early adoption gearwise, and laggards in practices and beliefs.

When it comes to practices and beliefs, these descriptions seem to fit the canyoneering culture:

• Innovators: Curious and willing to experiment.

• Early Adopters: Intrigued by how new ideas and products may be helpful.

• Early Majority: Like new ideas, but want to know for definite that something is going to be useful.

• Late Majority: Afraid of risk and doubtful of their own ability to use new ideas. They want ‘finished’ proven ideas.

• Laggards: Resilient to any change. Only change when they have to.

A useful model to help understand responses to innovation and change in canyoneering.

What stage best describes your feelings about canyoneering practices?

Reference:

Adoption Curves: Iowa State University by Rogers et al.