Change and Transition, Learning Why disruption usually happens at the edge and how to bring it to the center. Want to encourage diffusion of a new idea? Think of it as a contagion. Simple contagions, such as the news about your company’s latest quarterly earnings, spread spontaneously. Complex contagions, such as learning to act together in a different way, are more resistant. New research suggests that the most effective means to encourage the spread of complex change is to start small and to prove how the change works in that small group before attempting to spread the idea to the whole group. Article: Making Change Contagious