The more I researched on the topic, the more excited I got. To make matters worse (for Xerox at least), in 1979, Steve Jobs (of Apple) was invited for a conducted tour at Xerox PARC. So good managers are doing exactly what they’re supposed to do when they shift resources towards sustaining … It’s fair to say about two years ago, Gary planted the seed in my brain to write this article. How Can Tech Companies Become More Human Focused? (Photo credit: Wikipedia). ’s decline. On this post I would like to explain more about the Innovator’s Dilemma. The production system they set up was unlike anything in the USA and it required labor to be much more flexible. Unfortunately, most large organizations manage to put in an infinite number of management layers, resulting in a bureaucracy where the real authority and decision-making is concentrated within a select few individuals. Lepore being a historian rightly denies that the innovator’s dilemma is a theory that explains much else than the instances where it is true. I expanded on this in Apple and the Innovator’s Dilemma, an academic paper I wrote in 2010 that examined why the iPod wasn’t disrupted:5 Apple’s focus on user experience as a differentiator has significant strategic implications as well, particularly in the context of the Innovator’s Dilemma: namely, it is impossible for a user experience to be too good. Middle management play a critical role in weeding out ideas. How Is Blackness Represented In Digital Domains? A computer company called Why not make broader use it? Required fields are marked *. Even prestigious Cambridge is becoming a giant hopper feeding people to London, London, London. As Karl Popper argued 50 years ago knowledge develops through criticism but we are short of that and one consequence is that many businesses become vendor-dependent for their knowledge about innovation. At the same time egos and status play a role as well. And if it is true it is not attributable to Christensen, anyway. Innovation The word innovation derives from the Latin word innovatus, which is the noun form of innovare to renew or change.. If all the innovator’s dilemma means is that companies can be disrupted but then adapt successfully, then it is not news or a theory. did it along with one called Google, and the weapons of choice were, respectively, superior design and open source. Of course western incumbents have also been challenged by Asian competitors that relied initially on cheaper labor and then on superior organization. The Innovator’s Dilemma: Narrow Theory, Widely Applied Published on January 31, 2016 January 31, 2016 • 27 Likes • 6 Comments I’ll post another blog on that topic soon, in which I’ll look back at the trends that presented themselves 7 years ago and how they have developed since. All of this leads to tunnel vision and causes us to lose sight of the big picture and what we’re really trying to accomplish. But it seems as though to be critical, rather than insulting or trolling, is to be off limits, at the margin. So thank you for that! They had in their hands the key to the future. I guess it is partly fueled by our natural desire to protect our existing interests, our source of income, our duty to put food on the table. As Satya Nadella describes brilliantly in his book “Hit Refresh”: “Leadership should inspire optimism, creativity, shared commitment, and growth. The piece is long, but it gets really interesting in the middle when he looks at the case studies on which the theory is based. I would like to point out the “law of the handicap of a head start” as it was originally stated by a Dutch Historian (Jan Romein: “de wet van de remmende voorsprong”). But it did. ), “The Innovators — How a Group of Inventors, Hackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution” by Walter Isaacson (Must read for anyone with an interest in the history of technology. Apr 4, 2012 - Explore Suhail Mandani's board "The Innovator's Dilemma", followed by 210 people on Pinterest. In his 1997 book, “The Innovator’s Dilemma,” Clayton Christensen advanced his theory of disruptive innovation. Can your ego handle this? What Christensen has laid out clearly over the years is that companies with focus on their core can be usurped by products that initially don’t seem to be a threat, or even to be that good. She has also challenged the value of the business guru and taken a swipe at the elite nature of business thinking. However, once the base is created, the value increases exponentially and each iteration is dramatically better than the last. 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