There Is No Rule Book

The status quo is no longer the status quo. For decades, large bureaucratic organizations/companies held all the power and influence inside the business and economic landscape. These companies possessed high leverage and were in a position to sway, shape, and change their way to navigate the world of business and get what they wanted.

Today that is no longer the case because that business model has weakened and softened. Influence in business and in this ripe and dynamic climate is less about the size and more about leverage, and the ability of people to understand and practice the art and science of connecting, engaging, and persuading.

“Today is not about what you know, but it is about how fast you can learn.” -Unknown

Crowdsourcing has now become a “key strategic leverage point” and the passion and ability to connect a community is much more powerful and influential in starting and sustaining a “Movement” than the traditional large brick and mortar business.

The new business model is very easy to see and understand: “be easy to do business with.” There are companies that have been around a long time who are disruptive (SWA, Starbucks). There are companies that are emerging and influencing the landscape of business with their disruptive and “easy to do business with” philosophy (VRBO, Uber, Airbnb, Virgin, GoPro).

A disruptive business is an innovation, technology or business that creates a new market by applying a different set of values, which ultimately (and unexpectedly) overtakes an existing market. Clayton M. Christensen in his book ‘The Innovators Dilemma’, defines a disruptive innovation as a product or service designed for a new set of customers.

For those who are students of business, economics, and human behavior, it’s not a matter of if more of these disruptive businesses will enter the business landscape (and influence the way we do business), it’s more about when it will happen. The only question to ask yourself is “Are you disrupting or being disrupted?”