From Innovations, a website published by Ziff-Davis Enterprise from mid-2006 to mid-2009. Reprinted by permission.
When I was a kid, my world was changed by an inexpensive, portable device called a transistor radio. By the late 60s, every teenager had one. The sound quality was terrible and reception was poor but it didn’t matter. Transistor radios gave teens a way to escape from their parents while still indulging their passion for music.
Transistor radios did a lot more than that, though. They introduced businesses to a whole new audience and a channel that could reach them. New products began to be developed with portability in mind: cameras, CD players and later cell phones. The recording industry was changed as teens became a huge new audience. The Beatles were a transistor radio phenomenon.
Transistor radios tugged at our social fabric, too. Families no longer listened to radio together, which created new stress on home lives. Radio became an important news channel, making people better informed. Newspapers went into a long-term decline. New personalities like Don Imus in New York and Shadoe Stevens in LA began to influence pop culture trends. We became better connected with each other.
In short, transistor radio changed our lives in ways that very few people predicted when Texas Instruments brought the first one to market in 1954. That’s technology leverage at work, and it’s still a dominant force today.
Last week, I briefly mentioned camera phones. This technology will revolutionize the world, creating huge benefits in our ability to access information while will also introducing major concerns about privacy and legal exposure.
Imagine the changes: What if there had been 100 cameras trained on President Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963 instead of just one? How will sports and performance art change when spectators can “broadcast” a game or performance? How will our perspective on the news be affected when we can pay an individual to be our eyes and ears at an event? How will business and government adapt when customers and citizens can document poor performance of wrongdoing?
In the world of entertainment, the success of MP3 players like Apple’s iPod is already creating momentous change. It’s roiling the record industry, changing the business model for television broadcasters and enabling new artists to find audiences without a middleman. Companies will use this technology to communicate more effectively with employees and customers. People will be better informed. New uses in education will emerge.
How should you adapt the principle of technology leverage to your business?
You should constantly be on the lookout for IT innovations that can affect business in both good and bad respects. The most disruptive technologies are those that create new markets or make existing markets accessible to new customers. The bigger the market, the more explosive the potential.
Don’t dismiss or nay-say technology that people clearly want to use. Instant cameras, mainframe computers and long-distance telephone services are just three examples of the penalties of denial. Adopt new technology with enthusiasm, but let others make the first mistakes. Remember that it’s usually the second or third generation of a new idea that becomes commercially successful.
The most difficult change for most enterprises to accept is that possibility that an innovation may undermine their entire business. However, successful businesses are the ones that are most susceptible to disruption. It’s no accident that failed companies often enjoy their healthiest profits just before the rug is pulled out from under them. Read The Innovator’s Dilemma for more examples of this.
Be able to change your model before the disruption arrives. For example, newspapers like The New York Times and The Washington Post realized years ago that their fleets of delivery trucks and news dealers were no longer sources of competitive advantage. They made the jump to electronic distribution and national delivery, putting them in a much better position to survive the industry’s decline.
Finally, be ready to accept some pain. Make sure your employees and investors know when radical change is imminent and are willing to stick with you as you transform the business. You’ll come out the process smarter, more efficient and better equipped for the next round of change.
What information technologies do you think will be most disruptive and how will they change our lives a decade from now? Let’s hear your comments.
