In Clayton Christensen's classic "The Innovator's Dilemma," he explains how successful companies often fail by becoming overly locked into their established business models and optimizing the heck out of them, thereby ignoring more risky disruptive innovations. The speed of disruption when Christensen wrote his book wasn't exactly glacial, but it was far, far slower than it is today. Today, we are confronted with a New Innovator's Dilemma. Disruption is unrelenting, and the pace of change is often more exponential than linear. The evidence is overwhelming, and the verdict is in. Safe is risky. And more and more, fortune favors the bold.
Welcome to a special Remarkable Retail podcast summer series focused on what leaders need to do to help their organizations win the future and leap to higher ground. In this six-part limited series, Steve will be unpacking key lessons from his new best-selling book “Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption,” available everywhere books are sold.
Clayton Christensen, the late great Harvard Business School professor, wrote one of the best business strategy books of all time. In his classic "The Innovator's Dilemma" he explains how successful companies often fail by becoming overly locked into their established business models and optimizing the heck out of them, thereby ignoring, more risky disruptive innovations.
Of course, back in 1997, when Christensen's book first started to have impact, e-commerce was in its infancy, smart devices were a decade away, and cloud computing and AI weren't even glimmers in anyone's eyes. The speed of disruption back then wasn't exactly glacial, but it was far, far slower than it is today.
Fast forward to today, and we are confronted with a New Innovator's Dilemma. Disruption is unrelenting, and the pace of change is often more exponential than linear.
Take a slow and steady approach to innovation and you may well get run over. Move with caution and you may fall further and further behind.
Right now, doing what we've always done, but just a little bit better may feel safe, but it is often the riskiest path we could possibly choose.
The evidence is overwhelming, and the verdict is in. Safe is risky.
And more and more, fortune favors the bold.
This 6-part summer series will explore why we must choose remarkable or risk irrelevance. We will go deep on unpacking the root causes that lead to an overly timid transformation. We will delve into what is required to lead in the face of relentless, unyielding disruption.
Season 9 of the Remarkable Retail podcast returns on September 10th in its usual format. Follow us wherever you enjoy your podcasts, and don’t forget to give us a 5-star review.