The Culture of Disruption
The central thesis of my book , Provoke, revolves around the fact that we need to disrupt in order to innovate. To do so, all the members of the Culture of Disruption (CofD) are critical stake holders and influence the journey of disruption to innovation.
The members of the Culture of Disruption ecosystem include company employees, leadership and board, entrepreneurs and investors, academia and the market. All play a role in the CofD and we are all critical members.
CofD enables disruption to lead to innovation and ultimately to excellence. In Provoke, we will methodically analyze in component of the ecosystem, as we discuss the critical necessity of disruption to allow us to innovate.
Also, as many of you know, I spend a lot of my time, working with these constituents around the world, so my view is global as CofD is a global movement without a doubt. Provoke, will provoke you to think about the possibility of the impossible and how critical you are for success.
I was going through your blog and was wondering if you could guest blog for me. Do let me know!
Thank you for your interest. I’ll be in touch through your blog!
[…] Disruption is not about creating chaos. Rather it is about harnessing the amazing collective capacity that people have to innovate. Companies require order to operate, but too often this manifests as command and control, ponderous titles and self-serving bureaucracy. Yet somehow, within this structure, disruption must occur. […]
Jim Collins, since I just happen to be reading his book, talks about companies being specific, methodical and consistent. The successful companies are able to innovate within a consistent strategy. Apple develops new products that are appendages of the Mac are easy to use and artfully designed. Intel maintained most of its strategy of consistently improving chips even when it dropped DRAMs. Companies with a durable culture can maintain their course despite a turbulent environment. As Collins says, it is more difficult to figure out what works, understand why, and know when to change and when not to then to innovate. Starbucks is a good example of a company that changes and adapts while maintaining its strategy of focusing on the coffee. Collins also mentions the 5 stages of decline: hubris, pursuit of more, denial, grasping for salvation, and capitulation. Having a consistent strategy can help avoid the pursuit of more. Being a little paranoid and having a close eye on the environment can help avoid denial. Good companies should know the king has no clothes before the kid tells them. Most companies that progress to stages beyond that are goners. Through a consistent strategy, the goal is clear, directing, encouraging and motivating the collective capacity of people to innovate.
There is an interesting article by Jon Gertner in todays NY Times (2/26/12) about innovation at Bell labs, which contrast Bell labs methodical approach to innovation to Zukerberg’s motto for Facebook, “just move fast and break things”. He points out Bell was revolutionary inventing the transistor, laser, first communication satellite, first cell phone, charge coupled device ccd which is the basis for digital photography, fiber optic cable, unix and C, quality control. The article states Melvin Kelly, chairman of Bell Labs was responsible for the culture of creativity. His concept was an institute needed a critical mass of talented people to foment an exchange of ideas. Physical proximity was all and phones wouldn’t do. This fits with Steven Johnsons http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NugRZGDbPFU&feature=related ideas about where good ideas come from. Kelly mixed together people with different specialties. The culture also included the idea that the ultimate aim was to transform new knowledge into new things. That is why he set up satellite facilities in the manufacturing plants to achieve a 2-way exchange. He believed in freedom and trusted people. He also gave his researchers time. He talks about what passes for innovation today for example a new iPhone app, which might bring a few jobs and the revolutionary innovations that create millions of jobs. History does not support the belief that small groups of profit seeking entrepreneurs turning out innovative consumer products are as effective as our forebears at Bell. The article notes, “Revolutions happen fast but dawn slowly”