Stop Talking Disruption (or Mean It)!

Disruption, what's that?

For many companies, being disruptive is still one of the highest priorities on the list. Whatever that actually means. It feels good, just like that new hair cut which makes you suddenly feel 20 again, at 50.

There are lots of trends heavily misunderstood. Let us pick Agile Development or Digitalization: they look like the holy grail, if you only choose the bits and pieces that feel comfortable. But behind each of these trends is a bigger idea, a philosophy that needs to be grasped as a whole or discarded completely. There is a German saying: You cannot be a little pregnant. You get the idea.

Disruption is a state of mind rather than a methodology. For upper management, it often means rolling out a new idea before your competitors. At best, disruption is about disrupting some other company's business.

What is wrong with that, you might say?

At the very core, disruption must always mean attacking your own business model (or at least the willingness to do so). And for a very simple reason: It is your business model and you should know it better than anyone else. You should also be the one to know best how your market performed and will evolve in the years to come and where your business may be stable or already stagnant.

There are companies that emerge from seemingly nowhere and attack existing markets. It could be your market. And it would be your fault, because your starting position was way better than theirs.

How to disrupt?

Disruption means thinking the unthinkable - namely, that your current business model will become obsolete. You need to understand how it could be replaced in order to remain viable in the industry. This is not an easy task, but there are prerequisites and strategies to be successful:

• prepare the foundation
• prepare to fail
• persevere

Prepare the Foundation

An organization cannot think or act disruptively from within its traditional structures. Trying to be disruptive from the inside will spoil the efficiency of your existing processes, which currently generate the capital you need to be disruptive.

As a consequence, disruption needs its own space to grow independently and unharmed by tradition, i.e. your existing business, and vice versa. Tradition is the opposite of disruption. Not a bad thing, yet not helpful either. Some companies go as far as founding start-ups to circumvent any such external influence.

And there is still another thing you need. It is money to spend on the right people. People who are open minded, knowledgeable, willing. Explorers, builders, heroes. Expensive people, and enough of them.

Prepare to Fail

In 2001, I was working for a company named Digital World Services, a Bertelsmann subsidiary. Not many people know that name any more. They had built a backend solution for digital content distribution, for all media types and usage licences. A perfect example of disruptive, forward thinking. There was just one problem: the market only began to think about digital distribution then. We failed. Things only started moving with iTunes. Nowadays, streaming media is the normal way of doing things.

This is just one example of what could happen. Breaking away from old habits is often a prerequisite for business success - on both sides of the equation. Other reasons could be that the technology is not mature, or too expensive. Regulation could stand in the way of success. You name it.

It could happen, and that is no biggie. Celebrate the idea, mourn its failing, learn the lesson and move on. The next big thing is just around the corner.

Persevere

You need patience. It took many years to get to where you are, do not expect your disruptive idea to be ready overnight. There are good methodologies like Agile Development to give you a risk aware approach on new ideas. Still, it takes time.

Ideas need time to evolve: to become showcases, proofs of concept, minimum viable products, products, and finally, productions. They need to be supported by business functions: sales, controlling or customer services, to name but a few. It is a long way from an idea to a business. Being disruptive does not change the laws of economy.

On the other hand, do not lie down and wait. Good people can do horrible things if left to their own. So get your key performance indicators, progress reviews, roadmaps, plans, success stories. It is your money after all. If the outcome does not smell like morning air, check if you have the right people. They will always be the key to success.

Epilogue

It ain't over till it's over. Today's disruption is tomorrow's tradition. And today's tradition is tomorrow's history. Keep in mind that organizations need to embrace change in order to stay successful. If you have a thousand people working in your current business and you are disrupting that, see that you build a new home for them. They are the experienced people you eventually need to run the next traditional business.

So stop talking about disruption. Be disruptive - with a vengeance!