Disruption or disruptive innovation in full has become one of the most popular new wave business terms, especially in the start-up world. Despite its buzz word status, it is a massive force that we must come to some understanding of. While most disruption has been labelled digital disruption this unfair to the history of disruptive innovation which existed long before technology as we know it today. When Henry Ford endeavoured to make a vehicle everyone could afford that was disruptive. Reading is still one of the best ways to learn about concepts. There’s a saying that if you read 3 good books on something you know more about than most of the world. Here I have 5 books on disruption for you.
What Is Disruption?
So we are clear the term disruptive innovation was coined by the late Clayton Christensen, it refers to an approach or application that disrupts the established norms and patterns in an industry. It covers simple concepts such as grocery delivery and online shopping to more complex endeavours like the smartphone. Essentially disruption happens when the way things are done is changed and there is usually some application of technology involved but the technology is not always new. Take ride-hailing which simply repurposed ideas that had been in existence for years. Now let’s get to those books.
The Long Tail by Chris Anderson
One of the most fascinating terms I heard about when eCommerce started taking root all over the world was tail ending or tail end marketing. The concept is simple. In your geographical area, there may only be 5 people that are into business ideas, as an example. The world over there are likely millions spread out in clusters of 5 or 6 per area. ECommerce makes the millions available to you or you to them and that is what this book is all about. It takes it a bit further and also looks into some of the products that work very well with this tail ending concept such as streaming services. Read this to understand the terrain in eCommerce.
No Ordinary Disruption by Richard Dobbs, James Manyika and others
I’ve been asked many times to include books by Zimbabweans and I’m proud to include this one. This book looks at some of the factors influencing the disruption we are going through. It perhaps is best at painting the picture that not all disruption is digital or a result of technological factors alone. Culture, tradition and history play a big part in disruptive innovation. Read this one to understand the forces behind disruptive innovation and maybe you can spot them coming in your industry.
The Innovators Dilemma by Clayton Christensen
It would be unfair to make a list about disruption without any mention of a book by the man himself. In truth, Christensen has many good books on the subject of disruptive innovation but this one is the foundation. It looks at the issues innovators face in the modern business world and how disruption has become a way out rather than a cool thing to do. Read this to firmly understand disruption and don’t stop there. Read all his books on disruption.
The Obstacle Is The Way by Ryan Holiday
This book doesn’t speak about disruptive innovation directly. It is rather about disrupting yourself. When I read this book I didn’t think much of it but including it in this list today I realise it has really changed the way I see things and do things. The book focuses on the principles of stoicism, being devoid of emotion and harnessing that power for decision making. It is not about being mean and rude to people. It is about separating the wheat from the chaff when making decisions. The title is appropriate because it teaches a simple idea, the solution is in the problem. If you struggle with selling, learn to sell. And so on.
Disruptive Marketing Geoffrey Colon
Here’s a book about applying the principles of disruption to marketing. It comes highly recommended and is often compared to a market book that I highly recommend; guerilla marketing. The digital version of guerilla marketing is all about harnessing the lessons of disruptive innovation and applying them to marketing. Digital has changed marketing and the customer is in control now more than ever. This book is about dealing with these changes and how best to mark your territory.
These 5 will get you started on understanding disruptive innovation in unparalleled ways. Know some good ones? Let me know in the comments.
