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Below, Scott Anthony shares five key insights from his new book, Epic Disruptions: 11 Innovations That Shaped Our Modern World. Scott is a clinical professor of strategy at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. His research and teaching focus on the adaptive challenges of disruptive change. Previously, he spent over 20 years at Innosight, a growth strategy consultancy founded by Harvard Business School professor (and father of the idea of disruptive innovation) Clayton Christensen. Whats the big idea? In 1620, Sir Francis Bacon wrote that there were three technologies for which it was possible to draw a clear line before and after: the printing press, the compass, and gunpowder. Those three technologies that changed the world stretched over 1,600 years. Today, it feels like theres a big disruptive development every 1,600 seconds. Autonomous vehicles . . . augmented reality . . . artificial intelligence . . . additive manufacturing. And those are just the ones that begin with A. How do we make sense of a world where change is truly the only constant? Understanding how disruptive innovation and epic change happens allows us to see the world more clearly. 1. Disruptive innovators transform the world. Florence Nightingale was a nurse. You might have a visual of The Lady with the Lamp, and thats part of Florences story, but there is so much more. Shocked by her experience in the Scutari hospital during the Crimean War, she developed a series of analyses, brilliantly visualized in polar area charts that showed the power of prevention and proper hygiene in hospitals. She wrote books explaining the essence of nursing that anyone could buy and read, and set up schools to train nurses. What she did was disruptive innovation. Nightingale enabled a broader population to improve health standards and living conditions, focusing on prevention rather than treatment. Many of the things that we take for granted today, such as modern sewage systems or having light and fresh air during recovery, trace back to Nightingales work. Disruptive innovators transform existing markets and create new ones by making the complicated simple and the expensive affordable. They open markets to broader populations that historically lacked wealth or specialized skills. They literally change the world. 2. Every story of disruptive innovation has heroes. In the year 1437, Johannes Gutenberg was working on something in Strasbourg. No, it was not the printing pressat least, not yet. He was part of a team working on a trinket: a mirror that could capture the essence of the Holy Spirit during a planned pilgrimage in 1439. Well, that pilgrimage was called off because of an outbreak of the Bubonic Plague. That was bad for many people, but good for the world, because Gutenberg and his team went in a different direction. They met someone named Conrad Saspatch, who had an innovative wooden press. In 1440, they combined that with a range of other things to create a working version of the printing press. If you have an idea that you think could be disruptive, you need to find people who will support you. To commercialize it, they needed customers, scale, and funding. They found a merchant named Johann Fust who gave them the capital to build their business. Fust ultimately sued them and took control of the technology, but thats not the primary point here. The point is that every story of disruption has a protagonist, but it is always accompanied by multiple people involved. Every story has heroes, and that word is plural. So, if you have an idea that you think could be disruptive, you need to find people who will support you. If youre in an organization thats seeking to have more disruptions, you need to make sure the environment supports those innovators who are going to do the work. 3. Disruptive innovation is predictably unpredictable. In 1947, a trio of researchers at Bell Labs developed a breakthrough that would change the world: the transistor. Their goal was to create a technology that would replace vacuum tubes in communications networks. That happened, but the path to get there was unexpected. The transistor was an imperfect product in its early days. It had the benefits of being small, rugged, and not giving off heat, but it was also unreliable. You would have to redesign a system if you were going to use it. It wasnt good enough to plug into communications networks. The first commercial market was in hearing aids. In 1952, the Sonotone 1010 featured a transistor. The fact that the transistor doesnt give off heat was a huge benefit for people wearing battery packs on their waists. The fact that its rugged was incredibly beneficial. The limitations just didnt matter. A couple of years later, 95 percent of hearing aids were powered by transistors, and the market had exploded. This is a very predictable pattern. You never know exactly where disruptive innovation is going to start. Generally, however, you know it will be in a place that values it despite its limitations. That place is typically on the fringe of an existing market or in a completely new setting. Around the same time that Sonotone was taking license to the transistor technology, chef Julia Child was dealing with a surprising setback. When we think of disruptive innovations, we dont think of chefs, but Child changed the world of cooking, making it much easier for people to cook great French dishes in their own homes. Pull back and watch the full movie to understand disruptive change. In 1951, the French chef failed her final exam at Le Cordon Bleu. That same year, she met Simca Beck and Louisette Berthold. The two were working on a book that would bring French recipes to an American audience. They asked Julia to join the team and bring her voice to the project. She agreed. Mastering the Art of French Cooking came out 10 years later. Success was not a straight line. There were three different publishers and one near-death experience in November 1959, in which, at the very last minute, publisher number two said this book cannot be published. This is predictable. Every story of disruptive innovation has twists and turns and fumbles and false steps and things that look and feel like failures. You cannot predict the specifics. You can, however, predict they will happen. What separates success from failure is not how good the original idea was. Its how the disruptive innovator deals with the journey. When youre trying to understand disruption, focus on patterns like this. Recognize that a single moment can deceive you. Pull back and watch the full movie to understand disruptive change. Julia Child ultimately passed her test at Le Cordon Bleu and, in my opinion, her chocolate mousse recipe is perfection. 4. Disruption casts a shadow. Disruption is very good for some, but it can be less good for others. Particularly in the middle of a disruptive change, there can be a lot of messiness. Back in the 1920s, Henry Ford was obsessed with his visionto create a car for the great multitude. In 1908, he rolled out the Model T. It cost $890, or about $30,000 in todays terms. By 1924, the assembly line and lower employee turnover, facilitated by better wages, allowed Ford to dramatically decrease the cost to $260, or approximately $5,000 in todays terms. Sales of automobiles took off. This was good for some, but less good for others. Cities were designed for people, not for cars. There were no traffic signals. There were no rules and norms governing who could do what, and sadly, people were getting hit, injured, and sometimes killed. Two sides broke out. The motorists said, The problem here are the pedestrians. Were going to brand them as jaywalkers. Jay being slang for a country bumpkin who wasnt very educated. They had Boy Scouts hand out cards in cities, telling people to cross at designated areas. This was good for some, but less good for others. The pedestrians fought back. They sought to brand the motorists as flivverboobs. Flivver was slang at the time for cars, and boob . . . well, thats still pretty universal. You know who won the battle. In 1924, a New York traffic warden said, We now know about 80 percent of incidents are caused by jaywalkers. By the late 1920s, the word flivverboob had basically disappeared. Disruption always casts a shadow. The middle can be very messy. You have to understand it, or it will swallow you. 5. Success with disruption requires patient perseverance. People talk about the accelerating pace of change, but we forget that when we see a big breakthrough, theres often been decades of work before it. For example, in 2022 OpenAI introduced ChatGPT. It became the fastest technology in history to get to 100 million users. But by some dimensions, that technology was 67 years old, tracing back to a 1956 conference at Dartmouth College where the term AI was coined. Around the same time as that conference, a chemist at Corning, Don Stookey, made a surprising discovery. He accidentally set his kiln to a temperature that was way too hot. He expected a gooey mess, but instead he discovered the first synthetic glass ceramic. Corning commercialized this in a line of kitchenware and, in parallel, launched Project Muscle to make the material clear. The result was something 14 times stronger than normal glass. But Corning couldnt make it thin. They thought a possible market could be automobile windshields, but tests with crash test dummies showed that the head would not survive a collision with the glass because it was that strong. In 1971, after $300 million investment in todays terms, Corning put the project on ice. In 2007, Steve Jobs was getting ready to launch the iPhone. He picked up the prototype, and its plastic screen just didnt appeal to his aesthetic sense. He wanted glass. He knew Corning had provided an innovative screen for Motorolas RAZR phone. Even though Corning shut down the project, they continued experimenting and exploring, and ultimately made the glass thinner. They called it Gorilla Glass. Steve Jobs came to Cornings headquarters, talked to CEO Wendell Weeks, and said, I want this, I want it at scale, and I want it fast. Weeks said, Great, but we cant do it at scale and we cant do it fast. Steve Jobs turned on his reality distortion field and, without blinking, said, Yes, you can. You can do it. And Corning did. By 2024, eight billion devices had screens with Gorilla Glass. When it comes to disruption, you must be comfortable being uncomfortable because it almost always takes a lot longer than you think. This article originally appeared in Next Big Idea Club magazine and is reprinted with permission.
Category:
E-Commerce
Every office has that coworker that turns up to a meeting coughing and sniffling while proudly proclaiming they have never once taken a sick day in their career. (If there isnt one, maybe its you.) But as one viral TikTok makes clear, those attitudes towards taking sick days may be changingjust as sick days themselves are changing, as some think being sick isnt a real excuse to not work in the WFH era. The skitwhich has more than 2.3 million viewssees popular TikTok creator Delaney Rowe adopting the role of that coworker, turning up to a meeting with a hospital tag still on wrist, oh-so bravely battling through the workday while simultaneously making it everyone elses business. Person you work with who thinks theyre a hero for ‘powering through’ while sick, she wrote. The days of powering through are now gone, as nearly a third of Americans say theyd rather you didnt show up to work if youre feeling sick, according to a new Talker Research survey of 2,000 people in the US. Many in the TikTok posts comments agreed. I get so mad when people risk ME getting sick, one wrote. Get away from me. Another joked: This is me but I’m just soft-launching calling out the next few days. Others have even offered scripts for how to successfully call in sick without guilt or fear. Take your sick days. Those days are for you and theyre not just for when youre sick, one TikTok creator advised. Theyre for when you just want a day to lay down all day and watch movies and eat food. You can do that. Theyre for when youre feeling a little bit off and you just dont want to deal with it today. The workplace is a minefield of unwritten rules which workers have long abided by. Not taking sick days, even when allotted by an employer, is one. However, 31% of those surveyed by Talker Research say theres no longer a badge of honor or admirable quality to employees turning up to work ill. Just a quarter of Americans strongly believe it would impress bosses or superiors. As one Reddit thread put it: Never taking sick days is not a flex some people think it is. One commenter went on to describe a coworker who point blank refuses to take sick days, writing: All of this goes unnoticed by management. No one gives a damn. No one is asking him to do it, no one is patting him on the back. They added: Then he proceeds to get frustrated with the rest of us that we don’t do the same. The COVID-19 pandemic permanently changed workers’ attitudes to sick leave, making clear the importance of staying home to avoid infecting coworkers. At the same time, Gen Zers entered the workforce in droves, championing mental health days, worklife balance, and the importance of boundaries at work. But some workers may still feel compelled to show up and put in face time with the boss. That translates to remote work, as well; a green active light on Slack or Teams communicates availability. But whether its in person or online, working while sick sets a bad example for the rest of the staff, chipping away at work-life boundaries that are already blurrier than ever. Working while sick can also lead to presenteeism: working while sick, but since youre sick, youre less productive. Presenteeism is bad for business, especially when it risks infecting an entire office with a cold or flu picked up over the weekend. And after witnessing layoff after layoff, todays employees may be more inclined to take that R&R thats available to themrather than give their all to a job that deems them disposable.
Category:
E-Commerce
Have you ever felt like your brain was one of those viral egg experiments, cracked open and sizzling on a bare sidewalk that was truly, much too hot? You may have been experiencing signs of burnout (and dehydration). As an introverted professional, Ive been there as well, many times in my career. Over the years, Ive developed healthy reflective coping methods to recharge my batteries and prevent (or at least combat) that intense feeling of overwhelm. As a LinkedIn Top Voice and a very public keynote speaker whos learned to grow in the spotlight on my own terms, Im not the best at pretending to be an extrovert for any extended period of timeits too tiring! Instead, Ive found success by setting clear boundaries both online and offline, especially with growing my personal brand. Its how I stay true to my brand and avoid the dreaded burnout. And guess what? You can do the same. Youve probably tried a few personal branding tips that didnt work as well for you as an introvert, because they possibly felt too extroverted for your style. Here are my real-life strategies grounded in my own experience and ones that I feature in my new book Personal Branding for Introverts. These are the ideas that let me recharge properly while building a real, lasting brand. Overcoming Overwhelm With Boundaries As an introvert, youre likely to think more deeply and be more overwhelmed during events, big meetings or conferences, and that takes a lot of energy. Performing personal branding steps like making content, networking, or being active online can be really tiring for you (and me). Setting boundaries is the ultimate learned superpower for an introvert to combat the drowning feeling of being overwhelmed both in your daily life and at big events like conferences. It allows you to decide when and how you interact with others, which helps keep your mental health in check and allows you to show up as the best version of yourself at work. When you allow the people and activities that give you energy into your sphere and avoid the ones that take it away, you can create a brand that is easier to maintain in the long run. Lets go over four ways to think about boundaries as an introvert. 1. Establish Clear Boundaries Between Work and Personal Life While organizing my own work week, I think of this quote by Stephen Covey: The key is not to prioritize whats on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities. Focus on what is the most important work task for your week and use an energy-first approach to encourage your own balance and focus. Consider the following strategies: Match Work Hours with Your Energy: Prioritize the times of day when your energy and focus are highest. For example, if you are wide awake and alert in the morning, try scheduling meetings between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. rather than later in the day. These morning (or afternoon) hours are your core focus times and should be protected. Designate Time for Focused Work: Save specific blocks of time for your best uninterrupted, quiet work. Lessen the general distractions around you by limiting your email inbox and message time. Create A Habit For Your Work Day End: Start an ongoing ritual or task that marks the end of your work hours. This might include taking a comforting walk, writing in your journal or blog, or simply turning off your social or Slack notifications for a bit. These cues help reinforce the boundary between work and personal time, allowing your mind to transition and recharge. 2. Rethink your Endless Meetings Ever hear of the office saying This could have been an email? Not every meeting needs an in-person chat. If youre able (and allowed to) express your thoughts in an email or message, do that. Fewer live meetings means more energy for focused work. Group similar meetings together on the same day or days if possible so theres less distractions. That way, the rest of your schedule stays more open and quiet. Also, leave time between meetings. At least 15 minutes and a quick walk outside or inside the office will help you reset. Back-to-back calls can wear you down quickly and harm your focus. 3. Strategically Manage Your Digital Energy Ive watched many introverted professionals experience burnout from attempting to maintain a constant presence across multiple platforms. Focusing your energy on one or two channels leads to being able to deep-dive more into those spaces, and introverts excel in being thorough thinkers. Try these energy-saving tactics: Pick One Platform: Focus your energy on one or two social media platforms where your target audience is active. This platform should also be where you feel comfortable and capable of maintaining a presence that wont fizzle out in a month. Batch Content Creation: Create a bank of posts by setting aside dedicated time once a week or month to write, record, or design your content.This method lowers the pressure to be constantly working on new ideas and allows you breathing room for more thoughtful, consistent content creation. Determine Your Response Times: Find and segment out specific time blocks for responding to all of your messages or comments across social media platforms, such as 30 minutes every Tuesday at 11am. Its helpful to do this so youre less distracted by a ton of notifications at work. As your audience grows over time, this method will help you maintain balance and sustainability. 4. Prioritize Rest and Recharging Throughout the day, I intentionally give myself short breaks. A walk to feel the sunlight and get some vitamin D. A few deep breaths away from sitting in front of my screens. These pauses allow me to reset mentally and clear my head.. I treat alone time as part of my daily rhythm. Reading. Writing. Walking. Or just sitting quietly. These deliberate time pauses replenishes my energy while keeping me grounded. Persistent fatigue, lessened focus or the need to hide from everyone (social anxiety, anyone?) can be a clear and early indicator of burnout at work. Instead of ignoring these signals, consider them thoughtful invitations from your body to begin to slow down and rest before you fully burn out. Establishing and maintaining boundaries is crucial to growing a personal brand as an introvert and will stop overwhelm and burnout before they spiral out of control. Boundaries are wonderful tools that enable your brand to grow consistently and in a healthy way. You do not need to be everywhere online or offline or constantly available. Instead, focus your energy and attention on being present during specific blocks of time that you choose. Your audience will recognize the intentionalityand so will you. Adapted from Personal Branding for Introverts. Copyright 2025 by Goldie Chan. Available from Basic Venture, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
Category:
E-Commerce
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