Strategy and Change

7How to Lead Through Disruptive Change

OUR EXPLORATION OF the history and elements of disruptive change is now complete. We've looked at the accelerating nature of disruptive innovation and how our four archetype organizations—Disney, GE, 3M, and the government of South Africa—dealt with a decade of extraordinary events. We used the three core competencies of strategic leadership—systems thinking, decision-making, and risk management—as lenses that illuminate how organizations can succeed in the face of these challenges. We've paid particular attention to artificial intelligence (AI) as one example of a disruptive force with potential to initiate waves of innovation whose impact we can imagine but likely can't entirely predict.

In the face of disruptive change, what should organizations and those who lead them do?

What We Have Learned

The three core competencies of strategic leadership have proven to be a useful framework for understanding what it takes to succeed. Our review of insight, choice, and risk illustrated a combination of tested wisdom and a few new ideas. In the midst of this changing landscape, we see new fundamentals beginning to emerge:

• Gaining insight is a function of understanding beyond what is historically or widely assumed. Assumptions about both the organization and the environment play a major role in how we view disruptive change. Technology, including generative AI, is augmenting human insight. At the same time, understanding motivation plays a significant ...