“Disruption happens in the mind before anywhere else.”
We often credit technology as a harbinger of disruption, all the more so in Digital Media. But in my experience I’ve seen technology as a facilitator to a disruptive idea that would’ve existed and made its way out with or without technology. I think disruption is a very confident state-of-mind that’s ready to discard set norms and revolutionize the industry with new thinking.
When Disruption itself becomes the norm, it’s the leadership and courage to experiment that become the decisive factors of your company’s survival and success along with technology.
I’m inspired by disruptive minds like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos when they take charge of ideas that only appeal to science fiction movie directors, for instance companies like Tesla, Amazon and even Facebook are not anymore just looking into opportunities that aid in their current businesses, but talking about stuff like, making the world disease free, putting humans on Mars, or digging a tunnel under the United States of America to avoid traffic jams. Disruption is clearly a leadership quality possessed by these CEOs.
Disrupt or be disrupted.
For a long time, disruption has been seen as a game changer – but since the last decade and rise of Digital, it has very much become a norm for survival.
The heat is so much that not even the public sector services that hold a certain authority in accepting change and implementing new business models are free from the pressure to accept the digital disruption happing around them on a daily basis.
Disruption as a risk
There are countless stories of disruptive thinking that happened in a basement, took off as a hole-in- the-wall start up and within no time shook the very foundation of that business segment. Uber, Facebook, Whatsapp, Couchsurfing, Airbnb and much more are fine examples of disruption that was simply waiting to happen. Waiting for its better half – Technology.
A research by Capgemini showed that since The year 2000, 52% of Fortune 500 companies have taken the knockout hit and fallen just because they didn’t foresee the digital revolution and its impact on the industry.
As a CEO or entrepreneur, one must see disruption as a risk if they don’t see the opportunity it offers. As accepting disruption and working that ideology down the company requires a shift in the mindset, along with an appetite to make substantial investments in new technology and skills.
Such a change is easier in smaller companies with young and ambitions top management. I’d credit this quality as the reason behind the emergence and success of so many start ups that disrupted the space.
Disruption and leadership
The leaders and CEOs spearheading disruption have many traits in common. These traits are a must-have to pull out the disruption card and win the game. I’ll try and lay those traits down one by one with a goal to help one see the bigger picture in which disruption works as a positive force and as a game changer.
- The Disruption Manifesto for your company
- Inculcating a culture of experimentation in your company. Carry our weekly brain storming sessions.
- Embrace technology. Seek out for new technologies and be the first to test them against your novel ideas.
- Be extremely curious about customers, think beyond current business challenges you are facing.
- Be supportive and persistent through uncomfortable change – it is likely to change will be unpleasant.
- Mitigate risks. Always begin by piloting your idea in the market with a light and affordable architecture.
- Follow the leaders in disruption and create your own tactics drawing inspiration from them
Towards the end
If you closely study all the disruptive models that are successful today, you can see that the original thoughts were not about profits to begin with, but about the customers and how facilitating them in doing things easier to make life better. And maybe this is where the real learning sites.
About the Author:
A techie in head and farmer at heart, Arya Rajesh Kumar, Entrepreneur and CEO at Avohi, has 10 years of illustrating leadership in various domains like Digital and Technology to make a positive dent in the technological landscape.
He is passionate about leveraging technology and knowledge management to better equip and empower the farmers in the digital age. He’s proactively bringing disruptive ideas to the table and initiating several farmer support activities.
An acting Chair Person at Young Indians Bengaluru, Confederation of Indian Industry, his key interests and strengths include Healthcare Application and Products Development, Mobile Application Development, Digital Marketing Services and Social Media Applications and Marketing.
