It?s hard to hear a pitch, listen to a speech, or read blogs without hearing/seeing a claim that some cool new thing is distruptive. Most innovations are sustaining innovations. Here?s a good checklist for whether something is a disruptive innovation (via this post in HBR):
- Does the product either target overserved customers (by offering lower performance at a lower price) or create a new market (by targeting customers who couldn?t use or afford the existing product)
- Does it create ?asymmetric motivation,? meaning that while the disrupter is motivated to enter higher performance segments over time, existing players aren?t motivated to fight it?
- Can it improve performance fast enough to keep pace with customers? expectations while retaining its low cost structure?
- Does it create new value networks, including sales channels?
- Does it disrupt all incumbents, or can an existing player exploit the opportunity?
- Does it disrupt all incumbents, or can an existing player exploit the opportunity?
