Do You Have a Disruption Acceleration Plan?

Over 15 years ago, Blockbuster asked us about disruption.  We analyzed broadband and compute market signals and trends, demonstrating that DVD’s would go the way of VHS.  Execs were stunned, Blockbuster could not move away from their now obsolete store fronts.

5 years ago, we worked with the leadership of the National Association of Broadcasters at the Consumer Electronics Show.  We talked about disruption and walked through the market signals and emerging trends to a stunning conclusion:  Netflix and YouTube were broadcasters.  Today, that’s easy to see.  Now Facebook and Instagram have become broadcasters as well. 

We’ve walked through similar exercises for real-estate, manufacturing, construction and medical devices; examining market signals and stunning executives every time.  Market signals are emerging trends; AI (Artificial Intelligence) block chain, and crypto currency will have a profound impact on finance, trading and risk and commerce in general.  An unstoppable flood of intelligently coded data.

Market forces are like water, dams can be constructed and water can be channeled yet the force remains.  The key to managing disruption is in the navigation, just like on the water.  Some executives are stunned and some are stimulated.

Here are some interesting market forces for disruption:

85% of the jobs in 2030 will be new jobs  according to the Institute for the Future (IFTF) For example, the dating industry in the US is $3Bn per year, £225 million in the UK.  I’ll let you do the currency and per-capita conversion.  What’s really interesting is the niche job of dating profile photographer.  Not everyone can be Kardashian and 90% of the dating profile is all about the photo.  

As Forbes previously reported, Freelancers made up a mere 6% of the workforce in 1989; 43% of the U.S. workforce will be made up of freelancers by 2020.  Not everyone will drive an Uber or be a dating profile photographer.  New unheard of job roles are emerging and accelerating; blockchain engineer, cyrptocurrency manager and drone traffic controller.  But one thing is clear, Freelancers can disrupt individuals and organizations.

All this is good news for the economy while raining accelerating cycles of disruption for industries, organizations and individuals.  

Brookings characterized the mid-sized Inc. 5000a companies as "vital to the economy" because of their performance:

• Median annual growth rates of 43 percent for revenue
• Employment growth rates of 35 percent

Just 29 percent of fast-growth companies are in traditional high-tech industries, such as IT services, software, and computer hardware, the study found.  Retail, construction and government services are fast growing as well.

The study found four factors positively associated with high-growth company density: a large college-educated workforce, a substantial number of people employed in high tech, a significant share of the population at the prime age for entrepreneurship (35 to 44), and high business formation rates overall.

Netting it out, no industry or company or individual is immune from disruption.  Does your organization have disruption acceleration plan?  A plan that identifies market signals and trends, then creates alternatives to extinction or success?  Do you?  Will you be stunned or stimulated?

a Meet America's Greatest (and Most Inspiring) Entrepreneurs This Year, https://www.inc.com/inc5000, January 2018

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