It can be really difficult to tell whether your industry is being disrupted. Here’s a list of the thirteen most common signs of industry disruption. It’s useful to have a checklist of many of the normal signs so that you can get confidence in your intuitions.
We’ve seen so much industry disruption over the last few decades that some of the signs are familiar to all of us. Others are more subtle. In this workbook, I’ve collected 13 of the most important ones, so that you don’t miss any.
Why can it be difficult?
Two reasons – first in many stable industries the way things are has been static for entire careers. You are not used to changing, or you don’t see change. There is a wonderful psychology experiment where participants are asked to count how many times players pass the ball. When asked very few remembered the gorilla walking across the court!
The point of that video is to show you that it’s really difficult to see the important stuff when you aren’t looking for it. Having a checklist makes it easier to focus your attention on what matters.
The second reason, and far more likely, is that you are already feeling a bit of the pressure. How do you quantify it when you have no systems in place to measure or manage what is happening. The checklist gives you 13 quick tests to apply to your business that will help to develop a sense of urgency (or complacency!)
What Threats Are You Missing?
Something else that you need to consider is that many of the biggest threats aren’t obvious.
Kodak was once the largest camera company in the world. It saw the threats coming early. Kodak changed its business model to avoid disruption and moved into digital cameras. It was totally blindsided when cameras were wiped out as a mass-market category and integrated into phones.
The advertising industry was once incredibly powerful and profitable (Think MadMen). They saw the opportunity of moving their big corporate clients onto the internet. The advertising even started doing it with good results. They totally missed the importance of search and how advertising could be linked to it. They captured only a fraction of the value that the internet created, whilst Google, and later Facebook captured most of it.
Thirteen Signs of Industry Disruption
A list of 13 signs of industry disruption
Detailed information on each sign
A scorecard to help you determine how much at risk your company is
