“I could either watch it happen or be a part of it”. – Elon Musk on disruptive innovation. He is a genius behind one of the most innovative companies like SpaceX and Tesla.In the present scenario, every industry is going through a major business model and technology oriented disruption. So, let us first decode the term ‘disruptive innovation’.
Decoding the term
In the simplest words, it can be understood as an application of a technology that changes the way a firm or market or industry functions. Now, what makes a technology disruptive? For instance, the internet is a disruptive innovation since it was a unique creation used for generating money that never existed before. So, any technology that is uniquely built and causes a fundamental change in the way of functioning of a firm or industry is ‘disruptive innovation’. Now, let us discuss why it is here to stay.
The significance of Disruptive Innovation
Whenever a disruption comes to market, for a business it becomes essential to adopt it or else it shall be left behind. Let us see into the case of the spectacular demise of Nokia. It was the world’s largest mobile phone maker having a magnificent global market share of 40%. From witnessing such heights of success, it also had to witness the fire sale of its entire business to Microsoft. Why? The inability to identify the disruptive innovation being carried out by competitors in the market and later failing to adopt it. Thus, disruptive innovation is not just another term, it has the power to make or break businesses.
Disruptive Innovation is the need of the hour
In today’s ever-competitive market, disruptive innovation is the key to keep succeeding at what you do. If you don’t initiate it, someone else will. As rightly pointed by Facebook’s Guiding Principle, “If we don’t invent the thing that will kill Facebook, someone else will.” Every business needs to keep reinventing itself to stay on the top of their game. This understanding has developed since business values the fact that disruptive innovation is here to stay. In doing so, they become disruptive rather than adopting the disruption created by someone else. Hence, the key is to embrace disruption and change early because you cannot fight innovation.
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