Have you ever wondered why some companies and leaders are so successful in communicating with people? Why do some messages simply feel right and you’re oh-so ready to buy this product, but not much willing to buy that one, even though at the very core they are very much alike?

It seems that all the great and inspiring leaders and organisations think, act and communicate in the exact same way. And it’s the complete opposite to everyone else.

Glossary

• defy – openly resist or refuse to obey
• profound – very great or intense
• fuzzy – difficult to perceive; indistinct or vague
• mileage – a number of miles travelled or covered
• eminently – to a notable degree; very
• tenet – a principle or belief, especially one of the main principles of a religion or philosophy
• root for – support or hope for the success of (a person or group entering a contest or undertaking a challenge)
• substandard – below the usual or required standard

Think about it

Answer the questions below.

1. What do Apple, Martin Luther King and the Wright Brothers have in common?
2. Explain the idea of the golden circle.
3. How do most organisations communicate?
4. How do the most successful organisations communicate?
5. What is the biological explanation of the idea of the golden circle?
6. Why do we say that something “doesn’t feel right?”
7. What was the difference between Samuel Pierpont Langley and the Wright Brothers?
8. What is the law of the diffusion of innovation?
9. What is “crossing the chasm?”
10. What was the famous failure of the law of the diffusion of innovation?
11. What is the famous success of the law of the diffusion of innovation?
12. What is the difference between leaders and those who lead?

Practice makes perfect

Fill in the blank spaces with the missing words. Use ONE word in each blank space.

We all sit at various places ________ various times on this scale, but what the law of diffusion of innovation tells us is that ________ you want mass-market success or mass-market acceptance of an idea, you cannot have it until you achieve this tipping ________ between 15 and 18 percent market penetration, and then the system tips. And I love asking businesses, “What’s your conversion on new business?” And they love to tell you, “Oh, it’s about 10 percent,” proudly. Well, you can trip over 10 percent of the customers. We all have about 10 percent who just “get it.” That’s how we describe them, right? That’s like that gut feeling, “Oh, they just get it.” The problem is: How ________ you find the ones that get it before you’re doing business with them versus ________ ones who don’t get it? So it’s this here, this little gap that you have to close, as Jeffrey Moore calls it, “Crossing the Chasm” — because, you see, the early majority will ________ try something until someone else _________ tried it first. And these guys, the innovators and the early adopters, they’re comfortable ________ those gut decisions. They’re more comfortable making those intuitive decisions that are driven ________ what they believe about the world and not just ________ product is available.

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