Making Novelty Stick: Framing, Recognition, and Outsider Innovation

Abstract

It's a widely acknowledged truth that transformative ideas—those with the power to revolutionize established norms within any field—frequently are propelled by innovators who operate at the fringes, or even outside the conventional boundaries, of those fields. This journey of novelty from the margins to the core is as captivating as it is troubling to decode. On the one hand, unencumbered by the conventional norms that constrain insiders, peripheral innovators may recognize solutions that escape incumbents’ attention. However, this very detachment presents a paradoxical challenge:  while it enables the emergence of groundbreaking ideas, it simultaneously hinders these innovators' ability to secure the necessary support and recognition to refine and propagate their innovations. Lacking vital credibility, connections within the core, and authoritative influence, these peripheral figures face significant hurdles. What processes allow peripheral actors to make inroads in the insiders’ own terrain, particularly when their claims to novelty clash with the status quo? Our goal in this talk is to offer an overview of some of the central theoretical and analytical insights we have been garnering in our endeavour to decode the journey of novelty from the moment it arises to the moment it takes hold. After sharing the key findings of our collaborative research, we will conclude by presenting an ongoing project that employs an experimental approach to examine the micro-mechanisms that drive outsider-led innovation and its framing. This discussion intends to enrich the scholarly dialogue on how peripheral ideas gain traction and transform into accepted practices within professional communities.