Imagine you’re launching a new initiative at work. Your instinct might be to make it as accessible as possible—open to everyone, easy to join, readily available. But what if that’s exactly why it might fail?
During a recent talk about innovation, Simon shared a fascinating story about launching a millennial training program at a large company. Instead of making it widely available, they did something unexpected: the company made people apply for it.
“They said, ‘We only have a hundred spaces, and they have to apply to be a part of it,'” Simon recalls. The result? Not just full enrollment, but something far more valuable: organic demand that spread like wildfire across the organization.
The Power of Purposeful Barriers
Here’s what happened next: “About two weeks later, my sponsor at the company calls me up furious,” says Simon. “He says, ‘I’m getting calls from across the country from all these managers screaming and yelling at me, demanding why their people aren’t invited into this thing.'”
No marketing. No PR. Just genuine demand created by making something slightly out of reach.
Why This Works
The psychology behind this approach ties into what Simon calls the Law of Diffusion of Innovations. Here’s the breakdown:
- 2.5% of any population are innovators
- 12.5% are early adopters
- The rest need more convincing
“The way you talk to early adopters is by starting with WHY,” Simon explains. “Talk about what you believe, not what you do.”
Putting It Into Practice
Want to launch your next initiative with built-in momentum? Here’s how:
- Start Small and Selective: Instead of trying to please everyone, create a pilot program with limited spots. Make it feel special—because it is.
- Make People Work for It: Create an application process. Ask for essays. Request recommendations. As Simon found, “We made the application process wasn’t easy. We read the actual essays and chose 100 people.”
- Focus on True Believers: Here’s the magic: when Simon asked these selected participants to volunteer extra time to help build the program—with no extra pay or promotion prospects—50 people raised their hands. Why? Because they believed in the vision.
The Counter-Intuitive Truth
“I built my entire brand with zero marketing budget and no public relations,” Simon reveals. “It’s because I made a decision that I was going to focus only on early adopters.”
This approach works because it:
- Creates natural scarcity
- Builds organic excitement
- Attracts committed participants
- Generates word-of-mouth buzz
- Establishes genuine value
Making It Work for You
Next time you’re launching something new:
- Resist the urge to make it immediately available to everyone
- Create thoughtful barriers to entry
- Focus on finding your true believers first
- Let their enthusiasm create natural demand
Remember: Sometimes the best way to make something spread is to make it slightly harder to reach. As Simon’s experience shows, the right people will not only find their way in—they’ll bring others with them.
For more insights on launching new initiatives and building organic momentum, check out Simon’s full collection of leadership lessons in The Optimism Library.
