[cap-talk] Some good advice for disruptive technologies

[Karp, Alan H]

One of my Christmas gifts was "What the Dog Saw," a collection of essays by Malcolm Gladwell.  The first one is about Ron Popiel of Pocket Fisherman fame.  (When someone questioned its utility, Popiel replied, "It's not for using.  It's for giving.")  

In the discussion of the Chop-O-Matic, Gladwell writes

"Like most great innovations, it was disruptive.  And how do you persuade people to disrupt their lives?  ... You have to explain the invention to customers - not once or twice but three or four times, with a different twist each time.  You have to show them exactly how it works and why it works, and make them follow your hands as you chop liver with it, and then tell them exactly how it fits into their routine, and, finally, sell them on the paradoxical fact that, revolutionary as the gadget is, it's not all that hard to use."

Except for the part about chopping liver, that sounds like good advice for selling capabilities.  So, what's the analog of chopping liver?

________________________
Alan Karp
Principal Scientist
Virus Safe Computing Initiative
Hewlett-Packard Laboratories
1501 Page Mill Road
Palo Alto, CA 94304
(650) 857-3967, fax (650) 857-7029
http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Alan_Karp