The Link Between Innovation and Disruption
The never ending cycle that has impacted humanity for millennia
Innovative breakthroughs are always something fascinating to observe — they are a major factor behind the changes in our world. Some innovations have a bigger impact on our lives than others, and this is what we call “Disruptive Innovation”.
What are those? How do we anticipate them? What effects do they have on our society? There are many questions arising from this term but before we delve deeper, we should first ask ourselves: “What is innovation?”
What is Innovation?
Innovation, by itself, does not necessarily lead to disruption. The personal scooter Segway was an innovation, but rather than changing the way we move around, the product instead became a hallmark of mall guards and failed to meet the predictions of its inventor Dean Kamen. Unlike inventors, innovators do not introduce completely new ideas to the market — they improve current products or ways of doing business in order to find a solution to a problem.
Even though the iPod was extremely disruptive at the time of its introduction, it is actually an innovation of the previously-invented Discman (which, in turn, came from the Walkman) and online music services put together in a small pocketable device. This is one example of how disruption and innovation are related — an innovation that was born in a market disrupted by a previously introduced invention.
Types of Innovation
If you consider the market in which products are sold and the technology used to create those products, you can split innovation into four quadrants:
Without going into much detail discussing each type, it’s safe to say some types of innovation are more disruptive than others. It does not necessarily mean that less disruptive innovations are not as important — they can spur or push others to reinvent ways of doing business, and thus lead to disruptive markets.
Consider the invention of the microchip technology: without this item, many modern-day devices would not see the light, including the countless ways of using them. By itself, the microchip did not do much but solve a problem of connecting electrical wires in computer components. However, all the innovations made possible by its introduction completely disrupted our everyday lives and gave rise to the Information Age.
In this example, the disruptive side of introducing the integrated circuit was the solution for the current problems faced by electrical engineers. The microchip essentially changed the way electrical devices were designed. On the other hand, the disruptive nature of the innovations that followed influenced every aspect of our lives.
If inventing the microchip was dropping a stone in a lake, the innovations that followed were the waves that were created because of it.
Therefore, disruption and innovation go hand in hand. Not every innovation causes disruption, but nearly all disruptions are caused by innovations, which in turn spur other innovations and/or inventions. And the cycle is repeated — the time between innovations reduced and the innovations themselves are getting more and more disruptive.
This is one of the reasons why each consecutive industrial/technological revolution lasted less and the time between these periods is getting increasingly shorter. Nowadays, with the world on the brink of another revolution caused by extensive developments in AI and quantum computing technologies, this is more true and relevant than ever.
We have yet to experience the greatest disruptions mankind has seen, but make no mistake — they are coming.
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About the author:
Anton Bonev — a Bulgarian expatriate — is a marketing professional with a Master’s degree in Marketing Management from one of the top research universities in the Netherlands. Currently working as a Digital Marketing Consultant at John Clements Consultants, he is assisting the company in becoming the leading digital recruitment solutions provider in the Philippines.
