Why leaders miss disruptive technology

Disruptive technology creates a new market or enters at the bottom of an existing one, eventually displacing established firms, products, and alliances, and Clayton Christensen and his collaborators popularized the term disruptive innovation beginning in 1995. The lessons answer why leaders miss disruptive markets and help readers understand why established firms may struggle to pursue them.

2 articles, 1 video, 1 book · about 35 min of reading and viewing

The reading path

1. Read
   

   Do you want your classroom disrupted? · Hechinger Report · 3 min read

   Walmart versus the old Main Street department store and the personal computer versus the old mainframe are examples of disruptive innovation, which gradually improves until it completely dominates and puts old-school products out of business. In K-12, Christensen's original model may not fit because there are few if any non-consumers of school.

2. Read
   

   disruptive technology · Wikipedia · 26 min read

   Christensen's The Innovator's Dilemma examined how hydraulic actuation slowly displaced cable-actuated machinery in the excavating and Earth-moving industry. In The Innovator's Solution, Christensen and Michael E. Raynor replaced "disruptive technology" with "disruptive innovation," recognizing that a business model, not a technology's intrinsic character, can make it a disruptive vector.

3. Watch
   

   The cult of disruptive innovation: Where America went wrong | Jill Lepore | Big Think · YouTube · 6 min watch

   Jill Lepore says "'disruptive innovation' is a dangerous buzzword" and that there is "a world of difference between progress and innovation." She also argues that she can pinpoint the moment America went off the rails.

4. Book
   

   The Innovator's Dilemma · Bookshop.org

   The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton M. Christensen describes how large, outstanding firms can fail "by doing everything right" when their successes and capabilities become obstacles amid changing markets and technologies.

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