Sorry, Your Big Idea Isn’t Big Enough

Lessons learned from the “not so famous” Dvorak keyboard and the diffusion of innovation.

Of course, innovation is a critical component of success for any business. Without new ideas and products, companies would quickly fall behind their competitors. Innovation does not always lead to adoption — in fact, it’s often quite the opposite. Many businesses fail to realize that the need for adoption is complex and that the innovation must fit into an existing methodology or system. This is where things can start to go wrong.

One interesting and little known example of this is the Dvorak keyboard, invented in the 1930s. It was a more efficient alternative to the standard qwerty keyboard — a more ergonomic and faster keyboard design, claimed the inventors. Despite these benefits, the Dvorak keyboard never gained widespread adoption and is now largely forgotten.

Let’s take a closer look.

First, this new keyboard design required a significant capital investment. Remember this was the 1930s and changing a keyboard require changing the typewriter. This was a significant obstacle to both…