The Opportunity and Threat of Disruptive Technologies

Extract

I am honored to be with you today. I will give context for where the puzzles developed that have led to the research that I summarized in the book The Innovator's Dilemma. Companies that at one point were very successful and widely admired, fell from their leadership position within 5 to 10 years. This was very poignant for minicomputer companies, for example, which collapsed after their peak in the world economy during the 1970s and 1980s. While the companies were thriving, the business press attributed their successes to the abilities of their management teams. However, when these companies began to quickly unravel around 1988, the business press attributed their failures to the ineptitude of the very same management teams that had been in place during the years of success. I wondered how good managers could get that bad that fast.