Disrupt

 Williams wants you and I to learn to think “disruptively.”   In the preface he writes, “I’d argue that, today, there’s actually too much differentiation going on.”  He is referring to the way companies create similar products and then try to make them stand out through small, incremental changes to the products over time.  He isn’t against differentiation of products as a business strategy; he simply acknowledges that small incremental changes and “tweaks” to existing products won’t propel a company forward in the next decade.  Businesses (actually the people who work in those businesses) must learn to think “disruptively.”  Disruptive thinking leads to the creation of new innovations that leave competing companies scrambling to keep up.  Disruptive thinking changes the landscape and challenges the status quo.  Williams goes on to say that without disruptive innovation, companies will “differentiate themselves right out of business.”

Disruption--the breaking of conventions and clichés--is behind many breakthrough products; including the iPhone (what if you built a phone without buttons?). Most of us think of disruptive ideas as the product of a unique genius like Steve Jobs, but Williams' book lays out step-by-step guidelines for generating and (perhaps even more importantly) selling disruptive ideas to your organization.