Be your own disruption

I've observed that a lot of companies tend to follow a familiar arc. In the beginning they are the Disruptor. They innovate aggressively and achieve success by disrupting an existing market. But if they achieve a dominant position, they become the Defender, trying to beat off the next generation of Disruptors with  a progression of incremental improvements.

So if you find yourself in a dominant position, how do you maintain the level of innovation that got you there in the first place? By being your own disruption. Here is what I would suggest:

Encourage self-destructive ideas
You probably encourage new ideas, otherwise you wouldn't have achieved the success you have. But now you are there, the temptation might be to avoid new ideas that could potentially harm your own interests. You might look at a new concept and think "Great, but that will destroy the revenue stream of our flagship product. No way".

This may seem logical, but if you've just thought of it, the chances are somebody, somewhere is already putting finishing touches on their business plan, and your name is in it, under "Companies we will destroy".

If that idea is really a big threat, do you really want to leave it to someone else?

Apple weren't in the business of making phones, but they must have realised smart phones were a threat. The iPhone must have taken sales away from the iPod, which was their big profit product. If they had of defended instead, I'm sure we would still have a smart phone market now, but Apple wouldn't be part of it.

Make sure your vision is broad enough
Your vision should encompass any possible activity you might want to under take. If a destructive idea is a threat to your business, then it should be within the scope of your vision. If it's not you either need to review your vision, or prepare to be made extinct.

You also need to ensure that your planning activities encompass all of the space your vision defines. I'm sure Kodak didn't specifically define themselves as a "film company". They did make digital cameras. But perhaps film was so intrinsic to their self identity, that in practice they just couldn't see themselves in a market without film? Did a narrowing of their actual vision limit their ability to respond successfully to the threat that digital technology presented to their business?

Different teams for different reasons
If you've been on top for some time, the chances are your structures have subtlely changed over time to support an operational mindset. You might have more people testing and supporting than designing. This works for your existing product line, but you can't expect these teams to build you the next big thing, while they're busy keeping your current big thing running.

You may not have the right personalities either. If you haven't been able or willing to keep the creative geniuses on board that kicked off your winning product, then it might be that any brainstorming you do will only give you iterative improvements on what you already do.

Create your own skunk works. Devote a small proportion of your resources to separate creative teams that don't have to answer to the same strict requirements as the rest of the business. Applaud their failures. Celebrate their disasters. Manage them, but manage them differently. Keep an eye on top performers within the rest of the organisation, and give them a chance on an innovative team to see whether they have the right stuff.

I could spend a lot longer on this topic, but I hope this has given you some ideas for your organisation. If you have an idea, story, or feedback to share, please feel free to leave comments below.