Thought Leadership: The ABC of dealing with disruptive innovation…

In business, a disruptive innovation is an innovation that creates a new market and value network and eventually disrupts an existing market and value network, displacing established market-leading firms, products, and alliances. The term was defined and first analyzed by the American scholar Clayton M Christensen and his collaborators beginning in 1995, and has been called the most influential business idea of the early 21st century.

Software is eating the world” (M. Andreessen) and “AI is the new electricity” (A. Ng) are two phrases that indicate the seismic impact technology is having on traditional business models.

 Blockchain, in particular has created a gateway to digital anarchy. It’s a catalyst that creates a new and a different world. It represents a technological breakthrough that can sweep into obsolescence just about every existing business model.

How are you prepared for this?

Small, entrepreneurial companies don’t own disruption. A company of any size can disrupt.

Prepare to simultaneously defend your company’s position and exploit new markets created by new technologies and business models.

The digital revolution of the last 20 years has changed us, as consumers and employees. It has also created new markets and has altered the way organisations compete. As a market-facing executive responsible for your company’s strategy, how will you respond?

 And how will you capitalise on the opportunities created by such changes?

Understanding the potential impact of emerging technologies is a complex exercise. Disruptive technologies often stem from scientific disciplines different to those that are common currency in the sector. Moreover, market disruption may result from a convergence of several distinct technologies, each with different levels of maturity and lead times.

In addition, even when organisations have a reasonable grasp of the nature of potentially disruptive technologies, they can struggle to link the impact to their future business.

Sometimes, the inability to model potential impact is caused by a lack of a clear, strategic view of how industry drivers will shape market needs.

Sometimes it is caused by a difficulty in projecting how technologies will combine to meet future targets for products and services. Collectively, these issues can challenge many businesses as they seek to manage their technology base strategically.

So, how can organisations develop a consistent and coherent view of how drivers will shape their markets and how disruptive technologies can contribute to their business in future?

DVC approaches this question for clients through a combination of scenario planning. Using our L.O.A.F process (Leadership and Organisation in Anarchic Flux) we identify the key drivers and their implications on the relevant markets.

Then, we create Technology Roadmaps to link together the technologies that can address new opportunities that emerge as new market needs arise.

It is clear that Brands and their owning companies have no room for complacency, and need constantly to evolve, or risk becoming extinct.

L.O.A.F is a four-part process designed to identify and analyse a wide range of different perspectives, and then to recommend actions on the back of that;

1. Leadership: To provide leadership you need to learn from many different perspectives – even those you might disagree with. We are expert in a range of fields, including political analysis, branding, economics, technology and financial services.

2. Organisation: Too often companies have the information before them, but key pieces of information are missed. Sometimes this is because people with one mind-set are unable or unwilling to accept or understand what others are saying, and why. We are able to ensure that all key insights are kept in view, and synthesised and organised so they reinforce one another.

3. Anarchic: To make sense of anarchy you need to analyse. There is no use in having the information to hand if it is not rigorously analysed and tested. Too often people do things on the basis of what they want to be true, rather than that which evidence suggests is true. We apply proper rigour – following Karl Popper – in analysing the challenges facing our clients.

4. Flux: This needs fixing. Because we have worked in a range of industries, we know and    understand how companies work, and the importance of making good ideas operate through day-to-day management structures, we are able, therefore, to support our clients in putting in place actions that will enable them to be the disruptors, not the disrupted.

Challenger and Disruptor brands succeed because they emerge from developments not properly observed by market incumbents. L.O.A.F works because it builds on DVC’s expertise and experience in an eclectic and wide range of topics, including branding, economics, politics, government affairs consultancy and new technologies. This breadth allows us to help our clients in a number of ways:

• Disruptive Technologies blockchain has created a gateway to digital anarchy. It’s a catalyst that creates a new and a different world. It represents a technological breakthrough that can sweep into obsolescence just about every existing business model. How are you prepared for this?

• Thought Leadership Programmes that enable disruptor and challenger brands to fill a connector space between product and people. That drives disruptive creativity through a company allowing all stakeholders, to experience this through, all touchpoints.

• Stakeholder Engagement and Measurement Programmes to ensure measurable and ongoing dialogue. That allows management to set metrics and KPIs for employees to deliver disruptive strategies.

• Content Marketing Systems which provide end to end software platforms for serving the right content, at the right time, to the right people,

• Advisory Services for establishing management teams and networks that are best in class from their sectors and industries. This includes helping establish Board Advisory for a Start-up.

• Brand Roll OutEnsuring the successful introduction of the new brand to market by co-ordinating all the marketing disciplines to maximise the brands release.

LOAF has recently been used to create the FinTech disruptor www.banktotal.org which is focused on bringing banking to the underbanked and unbanked in emerging economies. It uses blockchain and cloud-based technology systems, to streamline retail banking for emerging economies.

DVC Consultants is a market leader in transformative consulting. It creates and consults to disruptor, disrupted and challenger brands.

It is clear that brands and their owning companies have no room for complacency, and need constantly to evolve, or risk becoming extinct.

DVC Consultants has therefore developed LOAF (Leadership and Organisation in Anarchic Flux) as a proprietary consulting process for supporting our clients in being disruptors and challengers, rather than being on the receiving end of companies more innovative.

Challenger and Disruptor brands succeed because they emerge from developments not properly observed by market incumbents.

LOAF works because it builds on DVC’s expertise and experience in an eclectic and wide range of sectors and disciplines, including branding, economics, politics, government affairs consultancy and new technologies.

Thought Leadership- Cogitare

Cogitare-The Latin for “To Think, ” is the collective name for DVC Consultants thoughts, insights and perspectives on a broad and eclectic number of subjects. From Brexit to Global Poverty, Islamic Banking to Subsistence Agriculture, Disruptive Technologies to The World Bank. It reflects the wide range of sectors and issues we consult on. We hope you enjoy reading them.