5 stages of innovation

Denial
• You deny that the new innovation is worthwhile.
• You say things like ‘That will never scale’ or ‘That was done back in the 80s and no one used it’
• Whenever anyone mentions the new innovation, you present a laundry list of reasons why it won’t work.
Anger
• You actively unsubscribe from blogs who rave about the new innovation
• You snort with derision and roll your eyes when you see the innovation on a resume
• You engage in flame wars with advocates of the innovation
• The phrase “propeller head” appears in your writing, as does the phrase “Blah, blah, blah, I am so sick of hearing about ___”
Bargaining
• You look for ways to justify your disinterest, in the face of clear market interest in the innovation
• You say things like ‘Yes, but without support for XYZ, it’s dead in the water.’
• You’ll buy books that include the new innovation, but only as long as they also include something else you’re really fond of. For example:
o Agile Development and XML - the forgotten connection
 or
o Monads and Method Invocations - How Haskell is just like Introspection
• At conferences, you’ll visit the session about the new innovation, but you’ll leave early.

Sadness
• You start to feel tired, because the world is changing around you
• You say things like “I’m too old for this shit.”
• You feel stupid, because the new innovation just doesn’t quite seem to make sense
Acceptance
• Finally, you realize that everyone’s figuring out the new innovation, and it’s all a big mess.
• You read blogs or news articles and you say things like “Wow, they don’t know what to do with it either!”
• If you’re entrepreneurially inclined, you start to think about how you could build a startup around the innovation and retire early and rich.
For most innovations, many people will never move past anger.