We have the capability to spot or create disruptions and adapt to them by harnessing them to our benefit.
What is it that differentiates humans from other species?
There could be many responses to this, depending on your specialization, however from the perspective of growth, it is our ability to spot or create disruptions and adapt to them is what has got us where we are today.
Disruption is not something new. Invention of fire, the wheel, concrete, penicillin, the internal combustion engine and the airplane, were all disruptions that changed the way we lived, for the better. In recent times too there have been disruptions that have improved the quality of work, hence life. Prominent amongst these would be the internet, personal computers, e mail, wireless communication, search engines and now artificial intelligence.
Do other species not have the power to disrupt?
Of course they do. For instance, a chameleon changes its colour according to its surroundings. When it is in the bushes, it is green which it changes to brown the moment it hits ground. However, unlike humans, birds and animals disrupt to survive, just survive. Humans on the other hand disrupt to thrive. Hence it isn’t a surprise that our while our quality of life is constantly improving, a bird or an animal is living the way its predecessors lived a million years ago Some of them have even gone extinct.
We have the capability to spot or create disruptions and adapt to them by harnessing them to our benefit.
Do all humans disrupt well?
Not really. There are many hindrances that come in the way of disruption, most created by us. For instance, if you have something good going on, should you be disrupting that? Well, my view is that the best time to disrupt is when you are most comfortable. It may sound silly but that’s the time someone else, a rival or a new entrant, is most likely to disrupt what’s going well for you. If you disrupt it yourself, you’ll be playing to your plan, else you’ll be forced to respond to someone else’s.
What comes in the way of disrupting when the going is good? The fallacy that this is the best and no can do better. That’s what caused graveyards of brands around us including Nokia, Motorola, Kodak, HMV, to name a few from the recent times.
What are the dimensions around which one should disrupt?
We often see companies who have discovered a new technology, converting it to a product and go to market. Most fail because they are technologies in search of customers. The ones who succeed are the ones who understood customer pain points and went back to their CTO asking them to build a solution to their problem. This may take longer but its chances of acceptance and growth are better.
Is disruption only possible around products?
On the contrary processes, most of them internal to organisations, offer more opportunities for disruption by making it easier for the customers to deal with us or by improving productivity, hence cost that makes our offerings affordable for the segments who hitherto could not afford us.
Does a disruption have to be large and game changing for it to be called one? No. In fact there isn’t a silver bullet solution to every problem. It is usually a sum of many small process disruptions that add up to make a meaningful change that contributes to convenience or cost.
How should one go about finding what to disrupt?
Start by looking at your customers. Are they happy or could they be happier? Follow that up by looking at inter functional flow of information, approvals, etc. Could some of these be eliminated or even reduced? Rest will follow.
Disruptions are a product of a change mindset. A mind that is willing to consider alternatives, actively. A mind that is not happy with status quo.
Harit Nagpal,
MD & CEO,
Tata Play
