Innovation…and the Disruption It Brings
Technology can have many unintended results—what may be seen as a tool of creation can also be viewed as one of devastation. Disruptive technologies are described as having both qualities because they have such an impact on existing—and often foundational—products and services, to the point that they bring innovation at the expense of those products and services (for example, cell phones versus landline telephone services; cable and satellite TV services versus broadcast television; streaming music versus phonograph records/tapes/CDs, etc.). They also sometimes lead to the very destruction of those industries integral to those older technologies.
The initial impact of a disruptive change may be seen as having limited scope and impact, but when a “new kid on the block” technology starts getting a stronger and stronger foothold, a cascading evolutionary effect turns what might be considered an otherwise cute concept into an annoying competitor—and eventually the prodigy that is the identifying hallmark for the business.
To be truly disruptive, new and impactful technology has to be revolutionary and revamp existing concepts—so it often is destructive, unless established technology users can adapt to and/or adopt these game-changer concepts. Clayton Christenson is a professor at Harvard Business School and writer of issues regarding …
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Published at Mon, 22 Oct 2018 04:00:00 +0000