Innovation in a Reinvented World: 10 Essential Elements to Succeed in the New World of Business

INTRODUCTION

Great Recession, Great Disruptions

We get it when rhythm and blues singer Tina Turner belts out “What's Love Got to Do with It.” But as Americans continue to struggle with getting their arms around the massive disruptions and deep shifts happening in our country, they might ask, “What's disruption got to do with it?”

“It,” in this case, is innovation.

Innovation has always been at the forefront of our country's ability to compete in business and to build world-class institutions, and for decades it has provided most Americans with comfortable lifestyles.

However, innovation is not a comfortable process. Preceded by disruptive events or situations—think of a snake shedding its skin—it is the destruction that often leads the way for transformation of economies, industries, businesses, and individuals.

Disruptions occur at any time or in any place. Sometimes we are prepared for them, and other times we are not, although if we possess a flexible mind-set that adapts to changing conditions, coping mechanisms that support us emotionally, and safety nets that catch our fall, disruptions can have less of a negative, painful impact on us.

Clayton Christensen in his groundbreaking book on disruptive innovation, The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail, writes about why established companies—even those run by competent, smart people—struggle with embracing disruptive innovations still on the horizon. Christensen explains that organizations develop ...