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Innovation June 15,=20
2007, 10:52AM EST
Clayton Christensen's Innovation Brain
The landscape has changed in the 10 years since The = Innovator's Dilemma, but it's still the seminal work on = disruption
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Clayton Christensen is a giant in the world of innovation thinkers. = And=20 that's not just because the Harvard Business School professor stands 6 = feet, 8=20 inches tall. Christensen's first book, The Innovator's = Dilemma,=20 became a bible for technology executives and Internet entrepreneurs not = long=20 after it was published 10 years ago. To date, it's sold 500,000 copies=20 worldwide, while in 1999, Christensen was described by = Forbes as=20 "Andy Grove's Big Thinker" and featured on the magazine's cover with the = former=20 Intel chairman and Silicon Valley sage.
The book's theme=E2=80=94that good management is no guard against the = disruptive=20 power of new entrants who go after new customer groups or low-end=20 markets=E2=80=94remains important today. "More than ever it has become = shorthand for a=20 classic problem," says Patrick Whitney, director of the Institute of = Design at=20 the Illinois Institute of Technology. "People never have to explain it, = they=20 just mention Clayton's name or The Innovator's Dilemma and = everyone=20 gets what the problem is."
Ten years later, however, the innovation landscape is rather = different.=20 Globalization has exponentially expanded where threats lie. Design = thinking and=20 its focus on the customer has captured the minds of managers. And as = chief=20 executives increasingly look to reinvent their business models, = innovation is no=20 longer defined in terms of mere technological breakthroughs. So how = relevant is=20 a book that chronicles the upending of the disk drive, steel, and earth=20 excavator industries?
Ideas Still Resonate
Very, says Robert Sutton, professor of management science and = engineering at=20 the Stanford Engineering School and co-founder of Stanford's d.school. = "There=20 are very few books, whether you do innovation in the academic world or = in the=20 business world, that you have to understand equally well," he says. "You = have to=20 know it." In essence, the dilemma Christensen describes=E2=80=94how to = serve your core=20 business while finding new markets and watching out for new entrants in = your=20 blind spot=E2=80=94is as critical today as it was 10 years ago.
While reading it today can plunge you into a bit of a time = warp=E2=80=94"Internet=20 appliances," those devices for the kitchen counter that would only = browse the=20 Web and respond to e-mail, did not upend the PC = industry=E2=80=94Christensen's ideas=20 still resonate. Criticisms of the book tend to surround its lack of = solutions,=20 which Christensen tried to correct in his follow-up, The = Innovator's=20 Solution, which was published in 2003 to less fanfare.
One reason the first book was so well-received, says Roger Martin, = the dean=20 of the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at the University of = Toronto, is=20 that Christensen doesn't criticize managers, as many ivory tower = professors do=20 in their books. Rather, a major theme is that great managers miss = disruptive=20 innovations precisely because they're focused on their customers, = working hard=20 to create returns for shareholders, and trying to do everything right. =
"He takes a 'there but for the grace of god go you,' positive, = blame-free=20 approach [that managers both respond to and appreciate]," Martin says. =
BusinessWeek Associate Editor
Back in 1997, did you ever think the book would achieve the =
sort of=20
popularity that it did?
I thought I had a good idea. It =
emerged from=20
my doctoral thesis on the disk drive industry, and at the beginning I =
thought it=20
applied a bit in computers and disk drives, but I didn't know how far it =
would=20
reach. Then one by one people read the research and said this is =
"exactly what=20
is happening in my industry." I really didn't understand that it was as=20
generalized a phenomenon as it has turned out to be.
Your book focuses heavily on disruptions that are caused by =
advances=20
in technology. More than ever, however, managers are defining =
"innovation" in a=20
broader context, from breakthrough business processes to business models =
to=20
customer experiences.
I think when I wrote The =
Innovator's=20
Dilemma, my brain really was a technological brain and I was =
looking for=20
a technological explanation. So I called it "disruptive technology." =
Then as I=20
helped people to try and use the ideas, it became very clear there =
really isn't=20
anything [it doesn't apply to].
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