"Markets that do not exist cannot be analyzed: Suppliers and customers must discover them together"
- The Innovator’s Dilemma, page 165
"Generally disruptive innovations were technologically straightforward, consisting of off-the-shelf components put together in a product architecture that was often simpler in prior approaches"- The Innovator’s Dilemma, page 16
While companies may have the resources to deliver these changes, it is back to the balance of understanding trends of the market: when is it the right time to make a change between the vision of a company vs. the reactions of a customer’s needs? To understand this, we must consider a couple things when dealing with disruptive technology. These points are:
When does it makes sense for a company to achieve a similar concept that delivers better performance or provides something new that wasn’t previously possible? Or how much control do the consumers that are able to influence certain trends have? By taking these points, not only does failure occur on a technology standpoint but also on an economical.
While we may not be the next innovators within the disk drive industry or create a new piece of machinery for CAT or John Deere, we can still put these practices into play within our own workforce and come up with new initiatives to propel ourselves forward. With what we want to create and engage – whether it to be ourselves, colleagues or consumers – how do those factors come into play? Will it have an impact? And if it does, how?
"Organizations will survive and prosper only if their staff and systems serve the needs of customers and investors by providing them with the products, services and profit they require"- The Innovator’s Dilemma, page 118
Another balance to the scale is determined around the % of resource allocation that occurs within a company; how much of it is met based off of a customer’s demands vs. a company’s idea. The success of companies and innovation drives around the simplicity of balance between how much a company gives back to the demands of a customer. Tailor the technological innovations to resource dependence: customers need the company’s product in order to survive, but also have companies fine tune those resources to reflect the demands that customers deserve.
An example that you can use to take action immediately is to think about what it is you’re providing for your consumers and how it impacts them. Then think about what resources are available to make sure that your idea is properly executed. Is the right information being communicated properly? How is the staff adapting to the information provided? Is it enough to give back to the consumer or will it get lost? How will it impact the consumer who receives?
"Managers who face the need to change or innovate, therefore, need to do more than assign the right resources to the problem. They need to be sure that the organization in which those resources will be working is itself capable of succeeding"- The Innovator’s Dilemma, page 193
To follow through with the balance of disruptive technology and demands from the customer, the book offers a framework for companies to reflect upon themselves by understanding their own advantages and disadvantages. Will the disadvantages cause a disturbance and prohibit them from achieving their successful ideas? Clayton provides an “Organizational Capabilities Framework” companies to utilize when facing a shift within an organization’s model. The breakdown of the three categories are:
These three categories overlap but pose a great exercise for leaders to take into consideration when constructing and reviewing their business model. Going back to that initial idea and concept that leaders wish to convey to their consumers, it is important to refer to the “Organizational Capabilities Framework” and applying these three categories. What disadvantages come up? How can they be resolved?
While this book is tailored to challenge leaders within an organization, it provides thought-provoking concepts on how we can influence the actions and behaviours of our customers. By understanding the balance between sustaining and disruptive technologies, The Innovator’s Dilemma encourages us to not only reflect on the reactions caused by our direct customers but challenge ways in which we can be proactive within our own organizations as well.
Clayton M. Christensen is the Kim B. Clark Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. In addition to his most recent book, How Will You Measure Your Life, he is the author of seven critically-acclaimed books, including several New York Times bestsellers — The Innovator’s Dilemma, The Innovator’s Solution and most recently, Disrupting Class. Christensen is the co-founder of Innosight, a management consultancy; Rose Park Advisors, an investment firm; and the Innosight Institute, a non-profit think tank. In 2011, he was named the world’s most influential business thinker by Thinkers50.
