Visionaries alienate pragmatists in four ways

Visionaries alienate pragmatists in four ways:[1]

  1. Lack of respect for the value of colleagues’ experiences. Visionaries are the first people in their industry segment to see the potential of the new technology. … Pragmatists, on the other hand, deeply value the experience of their colleagues in other companies.
  2. Taking a greater interest in technology than in their industry. Visionaries are defining the future… They are bored with the mundane details of their own industries. They like to talk and think high tech. Pragmatists, on the other hand, don’t put a lot of stake in futuristic things. They see themselves more in present-day terms, as the people devoted to making the wheels of their industry turn.
  3. Failing to recognize the importance of existing product infrastructure. Visionaries are building systems from the ground up. They are incarnating their vision. They do not expect to find components for these systems lying around. … Pragmatists expect all these things. When they see visionaries going their own route with little or no thought of connecting with the mainstream practices in their industry, they shudder.
  4. Overall disruptiveness. From a pragmatist’s point of view, visionaries are the people who come in and soak up all the budget for their pet projects. If the project is a success, they take all the credit, while the pragmatists get stuck trying to maintain a system that is so “state-of-the-art” no one is quite sure how to keep it working. … Pragmatists, on the other hand, tend to be committed long term to their profession and the company at which they work. They are very cautious about grandiose schemes because they know they will have to live with the results.

#innovation

See also:

  1. Crossing the Chasm – Moore (2009), ch. 2, § “Back to the Chasm.” ↩︎