I’m constantly flabbergasted that some people want to give full credit for an idea, movement or event to a single person.
“It wouldn’t have happened without so-and-so!”
Well, they are right, but also wrong. Movements, from my experience, wouldn’t happen without a whole lot of people moving them forward. If there is only one person responsible, it’s not a movement, it’s a party for one.
I’m really sad that I lost the link (if you can find it, tell me), but a while back I read a case study on the invention of Post-It notes that discussed the 3 types of people needed for them to actually hit the market (and become commonplace):
- Creator
- Catalyst
- Champion
In fact, as the 3m case study explains, the Creator, Spencer Silver, had come up with the glue that makes the Post-It note work almost a decade before the Catalyst, Arthur Fry, found a use for the glue (keeping his church choir sheets staying put). But even then, it didn’t even make it past corporate scrutiny until they found Champions: the people who were able to take the idea and sell it to others. Bob Molenda, Jack Wilkins, Joe Ramey and others all got behind the idea shown to them by the Catalyst, Art Fry, and made sure that the message was turned from potential to reality so that everyone could see how revolutionary this idea was.
Creators are the inventors, the coders, the people who come up with a crazy idea. Quite often, though, they aren’t able to connect that crazy idea with a real life issue to be solved. That’s the Catalyst’s job. Catalysts are really awesome at understanding real life applications of wacky ideas. They are connectors. But Catalysts aren’t always good at marketing their ideas nor can they replicate themselves, so they need Champions (many of them) to take that awesome application of the wacky invention and spread the word. The three types of people behind innovation are necessary to make ideas come alive and spread.
So, in every movement around us, we mustn’t forget that it takes Creators, Catalysts and Champions to make it happen. Heroes don’t work alone.
3 Comments
Timely post. I’m in the middle of this decision for WealthCamp. I’m really struggling with whether I want it to become an open, anyone-can-start-a-WealthCamp movement like BarCamp or whether I will want to deploy it in other places myself. Along with that decision comes lots of annoying pieces like trademarks, business licenses, event insurance, and whatnot.
I am VERY indecisive on this at this point. Right now I’m mostly ignoring it in favor of making sure the first WealthCamp goes completely smoothly. But it still all nags at me from the back of my mind. I’m hoping that after the first event and talking to others that I will have more clarity on this point.
I think one of the hardest parts of this delineation is deciding which type of contributer to be, and when to hand off the other pieces.
Some days I love to be the person in the trenches, writing code. Other days I love to be out connecting and finding ways to realize how the things we build or talk about building will apply in real life. And other days, I’m blowing out my vocal chords talking about that wicked cool idea.
Doing all 3 at the same time is exhausting and simply not practical, as you’ve said. Deciding when and what to share is the hardest part.
Hate to be “that guy” but Art Fry invented the Post-it Flag, not the Post-it Note. I know the website say the Post it notes, but the Post-it notes came after the flags. I am sure they referenced “notes” because of its familiarity over the “flags” name.
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