Disruptive innovation is a hot button concept today in business. Are you prepared for disruptive competition? Can you survive market disruption? Which industry will fall victim to disruptive innovation next?
Innovation and disruption are not necessarily bad things; they usually result in better conditions for consumers and customers, and new opportunities for those who can adapt.
Those who get disrupted by innovation, however, are not so lucky. Taxi cabs are getting displaced by Uber. Blockbuster succumbed to Netflix’ meteoric rise. iTunes turned the music industry on its head, virtually overnight. These are all patent examples of whole industries getting caught “with their pants down,” unable to read the signs of the times and adapt.
But what if there was a way to make an organization “undisruptable?” What if there was a way to absolutely guarantee that no amount of innovation or the emergence of some new technology or any other factor could catch you by surprise and put you out of business overnight?
The way to make yourself undisruptable is to stop focusing on what you do and start focusing on WHY you do it.
Let me explain. Apple is in the computer business. They also make MP3 players, software applications, smartphones, TV’s, and watches. Why are we ok with all this disparity of products? Why does it seem perfectly consistent for Apple to come out with a tablet one day and a watch the next? Because they both have screens, just different sizes? Because everything they make can be characterized as consumer electronics?
Not at all. It’s because, no matter what Apple does next, they will always do it in order to challenge a status quo. This has nothing to do with core competencies or market conditions ripe for disruptive innovation. This has everything to do with the reason the company was founded and exists in the first place. Apple’s why is clear. They know and articulate clearly why they do what they do.
If some other company (say Uber) shares their desire to challenge the status quo in their own industry, does Apple see them as a competitor? Not in the least. They see them as part of their tribe.
Apple customers will also tend to be Uber customers, or at least rideshare customers as opposed to taxi cab or limo riders. Why? Because using these services makes the same statement about who they are as consumers. They believe what these companies believe — in challenging the status quo.
My own why is similar. I believe in helping those in positions of authority become better leaders.
What if a company who believes in the same thing moved into the offices next door? Would I see them as my competition? NO! I would see them as part of my tribe; as people who share my purpose, cause and mission. I would be more likely to collaborate with them then compete against them.
Since an organization’s why is not a differentiator, that same mission can be shared by many different businesses — even across industries.
For example, the mission of a hospital might be caring for its patients, and this guiding principle could be shared by a dentist’s office, a pharmaceutical company, and an educational institution for those with special needs.
When people in an organization are crystal clear on their why, they have amazing flexibility when it comes to what they decide to do.
They can do anything they want, as long as it serves as a tangible proof of what they believe. This is why Apple has made computers, watches, long distance telephones, hacking machines, tablets, and TV’s, and it all seems to make sense to us. In each one of these “whats” we find a concrete proof of their why: to challenge the status quo of any market they enter.
Would Apple go out of business if someone invented a radical new phone technology or a new way to watch TV? Probably not. Why? Because in all likelihood, they already have a short list of other industries they are already planning on invading and turning on their heads.
The organization that is laser focused on its why is the ultimate innovative disruption machine. In turn, it is virtually immune to the disruption of others because of the flexibility its why affords it.
The organization that has lost sight of the purpose for which it was started and focuses only on what it does will be the next one to follow the fate of the Blockbusters, AOL’s and Toys ”R” Us’s of the world.
Why does your organization exist?
