15 May INNOVATION To disrupt or not to disrupt
I’m drawn to buzzwords? Particularly business buzzwords? They sometimes “muddy the water”, but “at the end of the day” these metaphors can help us “get all our ducks in a row”. You might disagree, so let’s talk about this “elephant in the room”.
Words can be fleeting, but buzzwords are here to stay. Particularly one that has been dominating the business scene the last few years: disruptive innovation.
IS THIS NEW?
Its genesis came in 1995 from a college professor at Harvard. And I find that ironic. Tying the word “disruption” with “education” seems incongruous…and also like a description of my time in school. Who knew that being disruptive would eventually be a good thing? I just wish people had thought that years ago. Sex education being taught in my high school biology class had me and my buddy Ron Clark making some very crude, but very creative, comments. I was just being disruptive. Little did I know I was way ahead of my time.
Disruptive Innovation is exactly what it implies. It CREATES new markets by CHANGING things. It fills a void or replaces something. Personal computers would be the biggest example for most of us. Prior to that, the normal individual couldn’t afford a computer. They were a large mainframe device that only big companies or universities owned. Years ago I remember touring the offices of donors to a youth organization I represented. Every one of those tours included a stop in their “computer room” where they bragged about how many miles of magnetic tape was contained there. We were always told the tape could reach from Los Angeles to (insert your landmark). I’m pretty sure they made that up. How would we know anyway? And who measured those tapes? That seemed like a poor use of personnel. And you thought your job was boring. The magnetic tape market was a victim of disruptive innovation. This type of disruption is responsible for all sorts of things like iPads, Netflix, and 3D Printing, just to name a few. Those are markets that didn’t exist before.
DISRUPTION vs SUSTAINING
Disruptive innovation is different than sustaining innovation. Sustaining innovation is the type of innovation that is an improvement to an existing item or service. In simple terms, it’s making something better. Compare your first cell phone to the one you have now. Today’s mobile phone is obviously better than the one from ten years ago. Of course, this example doesn’t work if you’re still using your original phone. If your cell phone is rotary, I’m talking about you.
The odd thing is sometimes these two types of innovation can hinder one another. An existing business can be so consumed with making something better and keeping customers loyal they forget new markets are emerging. They fail to disrupt the marketplace by filling those new opportunities and needs. Then the new disruptive innovator overtakes them and in many cases the sustaining innovator goes belly-up. Or vice-versa. A company is so bent on finding the next “new thing”, they forget to keep improving on their existing business.
In many circles there is a huge debate over the theory behind these types of innovations, and a resulting argument over whether a company like Uber is disruptive or sustaining. Here’s the point of this blog. Who cares?! Why does it matter which category you’re in. It’s semantics. That’s like having an argument with your spouse and saying, “I didn’t say I was mad, I said I was angry”. It doesn’t matter. Other than historical documentation, it doesn’t matter whether your innovation is disruptive or sustaining.
Here’s what does matter. You have to do both. You have to be better at what you do (sustaining), and you have to be willing to do totally new things (disruptive).
That’s one of the reasons I wrote my latest book “MORPH”. This is the part of the blog that is shameless self-promotion. The book is available on my website or on Amazon. It’s a manual for change. If you’re going to survive AND thrive during change, you’ve got to innovate both ways. It’s the key to managing change. To be honest, some change is easy. If a long-lost relative left you a few million dollars you’d probably be okay with that change. (By the way, a Nigerian Prince has given me ten million dollars so I know the feeling.) But a lot of change is hard and my contention is the best way to deal with change is to create change. Sounds like an oxymoron, I know. But look at those companies that were innovating in a disruptive or a sustaining fashion. They had no problem dealing with change. They won.
This is why in my estimation, creativity is the most important component of success. I know this will irritate some of my colleagues in the motivational speaking world because they believe it’s all about attitude. That may be step number one in the problem-solving process, but it’s only the beginning. Many people honestly believe ALL you have to do is have a good attitude.
Some speakers even preach this. “If you believe it you can achieve it.” Horse hockey. Here’s my point: attitude is step number one but it’s not the only step. If all you have is a good attitude you’ll be the happiest loser on the block. Things will suck for you but you’ll smile and keep charging ahead into one disaster after another. For example, growing up I rode horses nearly every day. I had a dream of winning the Kentucky Derby. I could have been an excellent jockey. I was 4’11” and weighed 96 pounds as a sophomore in high school. I’ve got an old driver’s license to prove it. In college my body discovered hormones. I’m 6 foot and weigh 190 pounds now. Despite all my positive attitude and belief in myself, I’ll never be a world-class jockey. Not unless we start racing Clydesdales. Attitude is the first thing you have to do, but it’s worthless without the ability to innovate.
WHAT TO DO?
You want to be more creative? You want to innovate? Here’s a few ideas to incorporate into your life. Pick one or a few or all of them if you want to innovate.
- Brainstorm. This is a great idea tool. The key is to not evaluate ideas while you’re generating them. Negative thoughts and comments, and even positive evaluation can stifle the idea generation process.
- Join up. Don’t let your brain shut down. Human interaction stimulates your creativity, so get involved with people. The mind loves company.
- Adopt a questioning attitude. Ask the question “Why?”. When we question what we’re doing and why we’re doing it, it forces us to evaluate. And that improves the odds of finding more creative options.
- Go into action. With few exceptions, couch potatoes are not creative geniuses. My experience is that creative people are active people. This doesn’t mean you have to be a gym rat, but there is a connection between mental activity and physical activity.
- Practice Comparison. Compare what you do with what other successful and happy people do. What positive activities and practices do they employ that you might incorporate into your lifestyle? This is a great exercise for business as well. Sometimes when doing this, businesses make a mistake…they only look inside their industry. People and companies can often incorporate an idea from a very unlikely source. Look outside your normal circles for ideas.
- Play games. The phrase “use it or lose it” definitely applies to the mind. There are an unlimited number of mental games you can buy, or you can just stick with something like the crossword puzzle or Sudoku. I’m personally a fan of the Rubik’s Cube. It forces you to deduce several steps of a problem. And it’s also a petroleum based product and burns nicely in the fireplace. HA! Games stimulate the brain.
- Hang out with creative people. There’s definitely an osmosis effect when you’re with bright and inventive people. The same is true when you’re with dull and boring folks. I remember a management tip I got from one of my first bosses, “If you can’t change the people around you, then change the people around you.” He was simply saying spend less time with negative and unimaginative people. Although this might be tough, they could be family. Ughhh.
- Be a kid. Have a little fun. One of my favorite sayings is, “You don’t stop playing because you grow old, you grow old because you stop playing”. Kids haven’t had years of rules and restrictions to stifle their creativity. As we age we start self-imposing rules that often don’t exist. This is why I try and spend as much time with my grandkids as I can. They’re good for me. They see things I don’t see. They keep me young. These are just some of the questions I’ve got from young ones lately:
Papa you’re old, are you a pilgrim?
Was Humpty Dumpty’s mom a great big chicken?
Papa, why is your hair running out of ink?
When you say weed the garden, don’t you mean “un-weed”?
- Use your sense of humor. I believe there is a definite connection between your sense of creativity and your sense of humor. I’m not saying one causes the other, I’m saying they enhance one another. The funniest people I know are also incredibly creative. That’s because to create comedy you have to find a creative twist that most people don’t immediately see. So funny things are creative things, and often the other way around.
To deal with change you need both disruptive innovation AND sustaining innovation. I know they’re buzzwords, but they carry heavy weight today. You may hate buzzwords, but if you’re gonna “hit a homerun” and “build a better mousetrap”, then you’ve got to “get your arms around” both disruptive and sustaining innovation. It’ll be a “win-win proposition” for you and your people, and will really “hit the nail on the head”. “I’m just sayin”
Mark Mayfield
Hall of Fame Speaker
Solid Business Wisdom in a Brilliant Comedic Style
Mark Mayfield has been a professional speaker, comedian, and author since the 1970’s.
Raised on a farm in Caney, Kansas he has been a livestock producer, teacher, nightclub performer, lobbyist, golf instruction facility owner, and is now the world’s greatest grandpa.
He is equally adept at performing comedy shows or high-content keynotes and seminars.
A meeting planner recently called him “one of the very few, really inspiring, yet hilarious men in America today”. His mom also said that once after a small bribe.