The Case Against Disruptive Innovation PDF

The Case Against Disruptive Innovation Author(s): MaryAnne M. Gobble Source: Research Technology Management, Vol. 58, No. 1 (January-February 2015), pp. 59- 61 Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/44134294 Accessed: 20-12-2024 17:54 UTC JSTOR is a not-for-pr...

The Case Against Disruptive Innovation Author(s): MaryAnne M. Gobble Source: Research Technology Management, Vol. 58, No. 1 (January-February 2015), pp. 59- 61 Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/44134294 Accessed: 20-12-2024 17:54 UTC JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at https://about.jstor.org/terms Taylor & Francis, Ltd. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Research Technology Management This content downloaded from 154.59.124.211 on Fri, 20 Dec 2024 17:54:58 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms  RESOURCES The Case Against Disruptive Innovation MaryAnne M. Gobble We are, as a culture, obsessed with Given this kind of extremism, it's offers a fair summary of the piece - with a small dose of snarky commentary innovation - as a national characteristic, - tempting to dismiss the firestorm as as an economic engine, as a certain under the title " The New Yorker Thinks another Internet-bred eruption that guarantor of national and corporate Disruptive Innovation is a Myth/' will subside if ignored. Those actually leadership - if we can only find the for- The response to Lepore's pointedworking in the trenches of innovation, mula to guarantee it. For Jill Lepore, analysis - of Christensen's work in The day to day, have little attention to spare writing in the New Yorker in June 2014,Innovator's Dilemma and of the idea of for such apparently academic debates. innovation is more than a business im- disruption itself - has been remarkablyBut there have been considered re- perative, even more than a cultural emotional (and often unnecessarily sponses, on both sides, that deserve at- meme. It is a "theory of history," a 20th-personal) on both sides. Christensen tention for the way they invite a century version of 18th- and 19th-century himself responded via a short inter- reconsideration of the concept of dis- ideas about progress and evolution. view In- with BusinessWeek that fairly ruption and how it shapes the way we novation is how we move forward. vibrates with fury. Richard Feloni, writ- think about innovation. Slate writer The 21st-century version of innova- ing for Business Insider , offers an over- Will Oremus puts it, in a commentary view tion, for Lepore at least, is disruption - of the immediate responses, on Christensen's response to Lepore, "a theory of history founded on a including insightful Twitter posts from "I'd like to think... that the whole profound anxiety about financial col- Marc Andreesen and Steven Sinofsky dustup could have the effect of prod- lapse, an apocalyptic fear of global dev- (formerly president of Microsoft's Win- ding people to think more carefully astation, and shaky evidence/' With dows division). In a post on Bloom- about Christensen's theory before that last phrase, Lepore takes aim at the bergView, Clive Crook called Lepore's spouting the relevant buzzwords." author of the theory of disruption, em- work "incompetent." In Forbes , Clark That "disruption" has become a barking on a close, and highly contro- Gilbert described it as "cleverly written buzzword, taking on so many mean- versial, critique of Clayton Christensen's but substantively lacking" and Steve ings that it has become essentially first book, The Innovator's Dilemma. Ac- Denning complimented Lepore on her meaningless, is one thing both sides cusing Christensen of handpicking case "well-crafted sentences" but dismissed agree on. In the BusinessWeek interview in which he responds to Lepore's arti- studies to match his preconceptions and the larger argument as "total nonsense," cle, Christensen admits that use of the of ignoring evidence that contradicts his describing Lepore's reasoning as "flights theory, Lepore attempts to systemati- of fancy" that are "wildly misguided." word has become "almost random... cally debunk the very idea of disruptive Lepore's defenders have been similarly used to justify whatever anybody - an innovation. For those who don't have extreme, describing the article as entrepreneur "an or a college student - time or access to read Lepore's full absolutely devastating takedown ofwantsdis- to do." In a piece for New York 6, 000 -word article, Slate's Will Oremus ruptive innovation" (Jonathan Rees, magazine, on Kevin Roose goes so far as to his More or Less Bunk blog), and, moresuggest we all just stop using the word: In this space, we offer a series of summaries moderately, on key "a careful takedown" "But (Paulwhen everything is disruptive, topics, with pointers to important resources, to Krugman, nothing is." The use of the term as "an in the New York Times). Haydn keep you informed of new developments and help Shaughnessy said Lepore had "disman- all-purpose rhetorical bludgeon," he you expand your repertoire of tools and ideas. We welcome your contributions, in the form of tled" sug- disruptive innovation, praisingargues, her "can distract us from the real gestions for topics and of column submissions.for piercing the "elite bubble" aroundissues with emergent products and DOI: 10.5437/08956308X5801005 Christensen's work. companies." Research-Technology Management January - February 201 5 | 59 This content downloaded from 154.59.124.211 on Fri, 20 Dec 2024 17:54:58 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms  Michael Raynor, who co-authored The Innovator's Solution with Christensen, makes this point quite clearly in his 5,800-word response to Lepore's ar- THE DEBATE ticle: "'Disruption/ like 'innovation/ Clayton Christensen. 1997. The Innovator's Dilemma : When New Technologies Cause is a well-formed English word with a Great Firms to Fail. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press. non-technical meaning. Christensen Jill Lepore. 2014. The disruption machine: What the gospel of innovation gets wrong attached to that word a very specific The New Yorker, June 23. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/06/23/the- meaning. Others can, of course, use it disruption-machine as they wish." And people do, as Roose Drake Bennet. 2014. Clayton Christensen responds to New Yorker takedown o and Lepore and others have pointed "disruptive innovation." Bloomberg Businessweek, June 20. http://www.businesswee out, use the word in any number of com/articles/201 4-06-20/clayton-christensen-responds-to-new-yorker-takedown of-disruptive-innovation ways that have nothing to do with THE COMMENTARY Christensen's work, and yet are deeply Sangeet Paul Choudary. 2014. The Lepore-Christensen debate: A repeatable patter invested in invoking the echoes of that for platforms and disruptive innovation. [Blog post, July 27.] Platform Thinking. http:/ work. platformed.info/lepore-christensen-disruptive-innovation-airbnb/ From this perspective, Lepore's es- Clive Crook. 2014. An incompetent attack on the Innovator's Dilemma. BloombergView say is undeniably misdirected in its fo- June 27. http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/201 4-06-27/an-incompetent cus on Christensen, and especially on a attack-on-the-innovator-s-dilemma single publication of his, the nearly Steven Denning. 2014. The New Yorker: Battle of the Strategy Titans. [Blog post, 20-year-old book that was the first full June 19.] Forbes, http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2014/06/19/the-new- expression of his emerging theory. As yorker-battle-of-the-strategy-titans/ several commentators have pointed Richard Feloni. 2014. The New Yorkers takedown of disruptive innovation is causing out, the work has since been interro- a huge stir. Business Insider, June 19. http://www.businessinsider.com/new-yorkers- disruptive-innovation-debate-2014-6 gated, tested, and extended in works by Christensen and others, and many Clark Gilbert. 2014. What Jill Lepore gets wrong about Clayton Christensen and disruptive innovation. [Blog entry, June 30.] Forbes, http://www.forbes.com/sites/ of the gaps and weaknesses Lepore forbesleadershipforum/201 4/06/30/what-jill-lepore-gets-wrong-about-clayton- identifies have been filled in. A quick christensen-and-disruptive-innovation/ search of the management literature Gregory T. Huang. 2010. How to predict whether a startup will succeed or fail: Test- reveals the extent of that testing and ing the "disruptive innovation" model. [Blog post, April 28.] Xconomy. http://www. extension easily enough. This is not an xconomy.com/seattle/2010/04/28/how-to-predict-whether-a-startup-will-succeed-or- fail-testing-the-disruptive-innovation-model/?single_page=true unusual development path for a new theory. Paul Krugman. 2014. Creative destruction yada yada. Opinion. New York Times, June 16. http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/16/creative-destruction-yada-yada/ However, beyond this point, Raynor's Chris Newfield. 2014. Christensen's disruptive innovation after the Lepore critique. response - the most complete critique [Blog post, June 22.] Remaking the University, http://utotherescue.blogspot.com/ of Lepore's article, and worth reading 201 4/06/christensens-disruptive-innovation. html on that basis alone - wears a bit thin. Will Oremus. 2014. The New Yorker thinks disruptive innovation is a myth. Slate, June 17. "The Disruption Machine" is clearly nothttp://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2014/06/clayton_christensen_ the "absolutely devastating takedown" and_disruptive_innovation_is_the_concept_a_myth.html of disruptive innovation some appar-Will Oremus. 2014. Even the father of disruption thinks "disruption" has become a cliche. Slate, June 23. http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/06/23/clayton_ ently wish it were, but neither can it be christensen_jillJepore_agree_disruptive_innovation_has_become_a.html dismissed as "a clever undergraduate's derisive book review," as Tim Walters Michael Raynor. 2014. Of waves and ripples: Disruption theory's newest critic tries to make a splash. July 8. Deloitte University Press, http://dupress.com/articles/disruptive- did in his piece for Digital Clarity. The innovation-theory-lepore-response/ larger arc of Lepore's argument - sadly Jonathan Rees. 2014. Disruption debunked. [Blog post, June 17.] More or Less Bunk. obscured by her focus on The Innovator's http://moreorlessbunk.wordpress.com/2014/06/17/disruption-disrupted/ Dilemma and the resulting rush to de- Kevin Roose. 2014. Let's all stop saying "disrupt" right this instant. New York, June 16. fend Christensen - has to do with the http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/06/lets-all-stop-saying-disrupt.html cultural repercussions of our embraceHaydn Shaughnessy. 2014. What did The Innovator's Dilemma get wrong? [Blog of disruption, in business and acrosspost, June 27.] http://www.forbes.com/sites/haydnshaughnessy/2014/06/27/ our culture. what-did-innovators-dilemma-get-wrong/ In mapping "the long arm of The In- Thomas Thurston. 2014. Christensen vs. Lepore: A matter of fact. TechCrunch, June novator's Dilemma ," Lepore shows how 30. http://techcrunch.com/2014/06/30/christensen-vs-lepore-a-matter-of-fact/ Christensen's work has escaped the Tim Walters. 2014. Is Jill Lepore's critique of disruption theory really "a criminal act of dis- confines of the business world, abet- honesty"? [Blog post, July 18.] Digital Clarity Group, http://www.digitalclaritygroup.com/ jill-lepores-critique-of-disruption/ ted by Christensen himself, who has co-authored books arguing for the 60 I Research-Technology Management Resources This content downloaded from 154.59.124.211 on Fri, 20 Dec 2024 17:54:58 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms power of disruptive innovation in ed- definition of disruptive innovation: Reviews start ucation and health care. Fueled by at the low end with a "good enough" growing admiration for a Silicon Valley-product and work your way up. Start- Social Physics: How Good Ideas style startup culture, appropriated to all ups that do that, Thurston's modelSpread says, - The Lessons from a New Science manner of uses, disruption is well onwill succeed. Alex Pentland (New York : Penguin Press , its way to becoming a defining battle It seems simple enough, but even cry for a generation of entrepreneurs. Thurston is cautious about the limits of 2014) If it doesn't lose all meaning along thehis model. "It's not a verdict. It's an ob- The impact of social media on us and way. servation," he told Huang. Truthfully, on our institutions is a popular sub- Despite Raynor's somewhat circularcreating a truly disruptive innovation ject. We all have read about Twitter attempt to deny it, Christensen's con-is a bit like creating a viral video: there feeds that affected stock markets or cept of disruptive innovation is clearly are attributes you have to have to have nurtured movements that overthrew a theory focused on failure and driven a shot at either one, but the final result governments - the rise of the Arab by anxiety. Raynor argues, somewhatdepends on the alchemy of the market Spring, for instance. Facebook has ex- glibly, that you can't judge the book byand your management team. The vast perimented with news feeds, exploring its cover, but you ought to be able tomajority won't make it, even if they their influence on mood in a controver- tell something of it by the subtitle on check all the boxes. sial 2012 study and, in an experiment that cover, and the subtitle of The In- Lepore's point is really that the during vi- the 2010 US Congressional Elec- novator's Dilemma is relevant here: sion of progress offered by disruptive tions, their power to encourage users to Christensen developed the theory in innovation theory is disorienting in vote. its More recently, Facebook invitations an attempt to understand whydisconnection compa- from any concept of to take the "ALS challenge" (dumping a nies fail , and it is intended to help good. ex- Creative destruction, would-be bucket of ice water over your head) ac- plain the phenomenon of large, disruptors argue, is inevitable. The the- companied by daily video posts from well-managed companies with supe-ory doesn't even attempt to make the celebrities and friends made ALS the hot- rior technical capabilities and market argument, as innovation theorists once test cause of the summer, raising more position. Given the basic structure of did, that new is good. Rather, new sim- than $115 million for ALS research. the theory of disruptive innovation, ply is, and it is both relentless and ines- These phenomena raise compelling large companies must survey the ter- capable. What Lepore wants her questions, and there is a pressing need rain anxiously, looking for the innova- readers to do is consider whether dis- to increase our understanding of them tion that will disrupt them, or theirruption really is inevitable and what and of the effects that social pressure via entire industry. And as the idea of dis- such a belief means, for businesses and social media may have on behavior. ruption has seeped into the generalfor the cultures in which they are There has been much speculation about culture, it has become pervaded by aembedded. these possibilities, but Alex Pentland's more generalized anxiety. Technologi- None of this makes the idea of dis- Social Physics is the first book to offer cal disruption creates economic and so-ruption as Christensen defined it concrete use- answers, based on mathemati- cial disruptions, large business failuresless or evil. What the current argument cal modeling and living-lab experiments does do is define the limits of the con- lead to small, individual failures, and conducted at an unprecedented level of the worker at the base of the pyramid cept's usefulness: Disruptive innova- data intensity, with large numbers of feels ever more threatened. Chris New- tion is a very particular kind of measurements per person per minute. technology development; it is increas- field offers a cogent discussion of this Pentland, who is a professor of Media, ingly prevalent, but it is only part Arts wider context, as well as a clear tracing of and Sciences at MIT, conducted the of the lineage from Joseph Schumpeter^ research with his students at MIT and the innovation story. It is not a simple creative destruction to Christensen's formula that startups (or established collaborators in various organizations. disruptive innovation, in his June businesses) post can follow to surefire mar-He also appears to have put his results on Remaking the University. ket success, although some companies into practice, as the book often offers A larger problem for the business have found success by focusing on dis-examples from companies he founded world is the difficulty of identifyingruption truly as an innovation strategy. Whator cofounded. disruptive innovation and understand-it is a useful framework for strategy The title of the book reflects Pent- that innovators, entrepreneurs, andland's guiding analogy: the goal of tradi- ing how to head it off or steal its thun- der. Thomas Thurston has developed managers can use to understand thetional physics is to understand how the an algorithm based on Christensen's market, identify potential threats andflow of energy translates into changes in opportunities, and plot a way forward.motion; social physics seeks to under- work to predict whether a given startup will succeed or fail. (Note the implicit It is not the only way to win, and it stand how the flow of ideas and infor- equation of succeed with disrupt.) As always apply. But properly un-mation translates into changes in doesn't described by Gregory T. Huang in aderstood 2010 and thoughtfully applied, behavior. it Just as physical relationships blog post, Thurston's model is based is neither more nor less than a power-can be modeled mathematically, social ful tool. mostly on the mechanics of Christensen's physics is also amenable to modeling. In Resources January - February 201 5 | 61 This content downloaded from 154.59.124.211 on Fri, 20 Dec 2024 17:54:58 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms