Solving the Innovator's Dilemma: Disrupt, or Be Disrupted
There's a question that I'm frequently asked that goes something like "So, I've read/heard about the Innovator's Dilemma and disruptive innovation. I get it -- interesting idea -- we all need more innovation. But what difference does it make whether innovation is disruptive or not? What can I do about it / how can I use it?"
Generally, the question is posed as a challenge -- a conversation starter when people are trying to understand what I do for a living and whether my services have any relevance to them. Normally, I use this space to discuss causes and effects of disruption, and case studies and disruption analysis that (I hope) is instructive and interesting. But my business is more than an intellectual exercise, so today I'm going to address this question head-on, and I hope you'll excuse if a tiny bit of selling creeps in. Hopefully, you won't even notice.
Why We Care About Disruption
In a nutshell, disruptive innovation catches competition off guard, and leaves them without adequate response. If you could design it as an attribute of your business, it is the ideal strategy, because it creates new markets, satisfies needs that are unmet or underserved ("Blue Oceans
") by existing solutions, and determines who the dominant players with the highest margins will be for years to come.
Where They Ain't
"I skate to where the puck is going, not to where it is," is a quote famously attributed to Wayne Gretzky, the greatest hockey player ever. He was explaining to a reporter why he always seemed to be in the right place at the right time, and to have the best and easiest scoring opportunities.
Going where the puck isn't is the essence of disruptive innovation. If you solve the problems that no one else is solving (and that potential customers are willing to pay to have solved), at order-of-magnitude lower cost, and with the highest degree of simplicity and convenience, then you'll generally have a disruptive innovation on your hands.
The trouble is, how do you find those sweet spots in your industry, or in your business? It's easy to see the next incremental step in innovation -- make the 'off button' bigger and red, make the product smaller, add another function (whiteners in your detergent). But going in a contrary direction, or one that others don't see the need to, is a lot harder to do.
Apart from the natural resistance that many have to stepping out of line and being different, this is what is so challenging about disruptive innovation, and why disruption is so rarely initiated from within the industry being disrupted. Regardless, to be disruptive, you have to hit the competition "where they ain't" (see "Wee Willie" Keeler), and do it in a way that isn't possible for market incumbents to match easily.
Identifying the Value
As a disruption consultant, the principle benefits my clients identify with implementing a disruptive business strategy or disruptive business model include:
- creation of new revenue streams
- easier sales
- much higher than average margins
- lower cost of doing business
- larger markets and largest market shares
Coincidentally, when you achieve those things, you also create the positive perception of being a trendsetter, an industry (market and/or thought) leader, and a supplier who is better able to serve your customer's needs. So, those are the simple surface answers to the questions raised in the first 
paragraph, but there is a deeper underlying question of how that opportunity can be leveraged. How do we create value from disruption?
Being Disruptive
I don't want to spend time here describing the services Innovative Disruption offers as a consultancy -- you can visit the pages of our website for that information. Simply understand that creating disruption and leveraging its value is done through a number of deliberate tactics that include:
- identifying "jobs to be done"
- radical simplification (of products especially)
- dramatic improvement in accessibility, flexibility and/or convenience
- change that enables nearly the same product/service to be done (or a "good enough" facsimile) for a fraction of the price
- find ways to bring products to, or service market niches that are undesirable to incumbents
and, these are accomplished with a methodological framework, specialized analysis tools, Disruption Report Cards, and a mentality that (fast) failure is part of the lifecycle of product introduction to be embraced because it is necessary to establishing product/market fit, not something to be punished. Lean startup behavior, in other words, is part of what enables disruption.
Eat, or Be Eaten
To conclude, we increasingly face a world where everyone is on one side of the equation or the other: disrupt, or be disrupted. Modern business allows no escape. If you want to explore these questions more fully, I encourage you to download our ebook "Disruptive Confusion Unraveled".
