Examples Of Disruptive Innovation

Disruptive Innovation is not a breakthrough innovation that makes good products a lot better: it makes available a product that was historically so expensive and complicated that only a few people with a lot of money and a lot of skill, had access to it. A disruptive innovation makes a product so much more affordable and accessible that a much larger population have access to it.

In the beginning the first manifestation of digital technology was a mainframe computer which cost several million dollars to buy and it took years to be trained to operate it. That meant that the largest corporations and largest universities had one. We had to take our problems to the centre where the experts solved it for us. But then there was a sequence of innovation from the mainframe to a mini computer to a desktop to a laptop and now to smart phones and tablets. This has democratized technology now to a point where everyone has access to it around the world. We are much better off now even if was difficult for the pioneers of the industry to catch the new waves of innovation which were created and dominated by new companies.

The “Innovators Dilemma” starts in every company, every day, every year where people go into senior management and tell them about new ideas for products. Some of those products entail making better products that you can sell for higher prices to your best customers. A disruptive innovation generally has to cause you to go after new markets (people who aren’t your