Corporate Epidemics

My musing on Corporate Immune systems prompted me to finally read Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point. The book is all about epidemics, specifically what causes social epidemics like fashion trends or crime sprees/declines etc.

I started wondering whether the same principles can be used to create a corporate epidemic - specifically one targetted at Terry's immune system.

The things that causes an event to "tip" and become an epidemic are often small and seemingly inconsequential. Rarely is an epidemic caused by a single big event although that is often what is concluded as a result of superficial analysis. This got me thinking that the way to combat Terry is not with big events but with many small, grass roots level changes.

Gladwell concludes that the cause of social epidemics is a combination of:

1. A small group of extraordinary people who produce the original idea/strategy/marketing/etc.
2. A group of "connectors" who have the contacts and personal relationships required to spread the idea.
3. The "stickiness" of the idea - i.e. how memorable it is so that it sparks people into action.
4. The ability for the idea to move from popularity amongst Early Adopters and be picked up by the Mainstream.
   

The first three are relatively easy to achieve provided you have the right people and even if you don't you can hire them. Number four is IMO the hardest part of all and why so many good ideas either fail or are defeated by the corporate immune system.

To achieve number four requires that the original idea is translated into a form that is understandable by and palatable to Terry. This doesn't require that the idea is dramatically changed from its original form, just that it is presented to Terry in a manner that he can comprehend and consequently it pushes the right buttons to spur him into action. Once a few Terries have picked up the idea, it will likely cascade and and become an epidemic infecting Terries at every level within the organisation. The best bit of all is that once infected Terry won't even realise what has happened.

Therefore, good ideas & good people aren't enough unless you also have the "translators" that can infect Terry with those ideas and cause Terry to create his own corporate epidemics that are ultimately his downfall and conversion from Terry to Non-Terry.