Seems everyone is talking about disruption (in a positive way) these days.  Just this past week, I’ve seen executives waxing poetic over how their company is ‘disruptive’, because they demonstrate the characteristics described in an HBR article on disruption in their industry. Hmmm…. I thought…. if it is described in an HBR article, it probably isn’t incredibly radical, right?  I mean, it is understood well enough that HBR is writing about it.

It makes me think of all the people who say they want ‘innovation’ in their culture, but what they really want is the output of successful innovation. They don’t really want to do the hard work of believing in and then cleaning up after the failed innovations that are an inevitable part of creativity.  Innovation takes a willingness to fail, it takes accepting sunk costs as possible losses in the service of potential future success. It requires investment without a guarantee of return, and taking a long view on profits. It means not having an efficient process with predictable results. See my post on September 16 for a link to an article from the NYT on just that thought, and another on September 19 for a link to an Information Week article on a similar vein.

Likewise, when people say to me “what we need around here is disruptive change!” or “I want to be a disruptive force around here!”, I always ask a few questions.  First, I ask “what does it feel like to be disrupted?”.  Second, “what does it feel like to be disruptive?”. And third, “what does it feel like to be in a disruptive environment?”.  Those three questions tend to make people pull up short, stumble over their answers, and the results are usually timid and incremental instead of bold and slightly crazy.  I’m sorry, but timid and incremental don’t equal disruptive to me.

We need to stop throwing bold words around and trying to make them fit into timid visions. You know what?  It is OK to want to do things incrementally. Maybe you aren’t at a point where risking your career is a worthy undertaking. Maybe your organization needs to play it safe for good reasons. Embrace it and make the most of it.

If you truly want disruptive change than be willing to accept that it is uncomfortable. It doesn’t always feel good. It isn’t always exciting.  Sometimes it is scary, and hard, and forces you to reevaluate things you hold dear. The return you get for accepting the lows is that the returns can be amazing. You can find yourself moved to new heights in your industry, or moved into new industries. You can go on a great adventure, if you are willing so risk an adventure gone very wrong.  If you can honestly say that you are OK with that, then be a disruptive force of change in your company.  Push your company to be disruptive in your industry. Just please don’t abuse the language by implying that incremental changes are disruptive in nature, and that innovation can somehow be managed into a neat and tidy process with predictable results.

I always tell clients, “if you already know what the answer is, don’t pay me to tell you.  If you can predict what innovation will produce, it probably isn’t innovative.” And now I’m also telling them, “if it isn’t uncomfortable, it probably isn’t disruptive.”