Agile Transformation and the Chasm

This post is from Agile Advice - Working With Agile Methods (Scrum, OpenAgile, Lean) by Mishkin Berteig. Click here to see the original post in full.

In his book “Crossing the Chasm“, Geoffrey Moore describes the difficulty of creating a popular new product due to a conceptual “chasm” between the first people who adopt a new product and those who come later.  He describes five types of people in relation to how they adopt new products:

• Innovators – always actively seeking out and trying cutting edge new products.


• Early Adopters – excited to try new things, but after the worst “bugs” have been removed.


• Then there is the Chasm – many products fail here.


• Early Majority – willing to try new things but need strong testimonials or real-world proof.


• Late Majority – require time-tested proof before they will adopt a product.


• Laggards – resistant to change and hesitant to adopt anything without strong personal incentives.

This product adoption behavior also applies to new ideas in general, and of course, to Agile Transformation [Agile Transformation vs. Agile Adoption] in particular.

Implications of the “Chasm” Model

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