Want to be disruptive? Be on the lookout for disruptive thinking

in Creativity, Innovation

Last week I told you about a client who had an epiphany and now he and his company are ready to ‘think about what they’ve never thought about‘. Great, but where to start?

You need to new ideas. Different ones. That has to be clear. You need to think disruptively by thinking about what’s changing in the world and how those changes, in aggregate, can make your business disappear. You also have to look for entrants whose business model could potentially disrupt yours. You also have to look at how your customers tastes and needs have and may change. You also need to think about how you can/could disrupt yourself.

The way to go about doing this is not to wait for inspiration to come. If your company is fighting for it’s life you should already be inspired but that’s not always the case. I know more than a few designers, business people, marketers, engineers, etc, that claim that they need to get inspired to think. That they need inspiration to get started. I totally get what they’re saying, but waiting for an idea to pop up in your head is wishful thinking.

The world isn’t waiting for you to get inspired, you have to inspire it.

With that said, and as we’ve discussed previously, inspiration is everywhere. If you claim to be creative, that means anything and everything is creative fuel for your mind. No need to sit back and wait for ideas to drop from the sky. This whole notion that ‘I have to get inspired’ to get started is just a good excuse for not seeking out inspiration.

So, want more disruptive ideas? Be on the lookout for examples of disruptive thinking or disruptive thinkers.

Where?

Here are a few sources to tickle your mind:

It’s not an exhaustive list and I’m pretty sure you’ve visited these sites before,  and that’s great if you have. If not, dig in!

What about disruptive thinkers?

It’s hard to point out specific people but you can check out my ‘Innovation Twitter List‘, which also includes most of the sources in the list above. If you can point out more than a few people that are brain shakers, let me know in the comments 🙂

Bottom line: Give your mind fresh inputs constantly and sharpen and use all of your senses as sensors for fresh stimulants that might provoke your mind. Inspiration for ideas is everywhere, they’re out there waiting to be noticed, borrowed, emulated, modified,combined, tweaked, simplified and disrupted.

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6 Comments

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  1. Kim Korn at 6:07pm Jul 26 2011

    Jorge, Consider Infinite Possibility (http://www.amazon.com/Infinite-Possibility-Creating-Customer-Frontier/dp/160509563X) for a discovery process and framework to generate ideas for creating new customer value. This book will be supplemented by http://www.infinite-possibility.com in the coming days. Let me know if you would like more information.

  2. Kevin McFarthing at 8:00am Jul 27 2011

    Hi Jorge, these resources are great.  If the particular company needs to think differently, these are great mind openers.  The next step should be face to face, with at least one person (often brought in from outside) doing the direct challenging questions, which usually come down to just two; “why?” and “why not?”.  These meetings are tough, but people need to stay determined and not flinch from doing the disruptive actions needed to save the company.

    • Jorge Barba (Author) at 3:01am Jul 28 2011

      Hi Kevin (@innovationfixer:twitter),

      Thanks. That’s a great idea and one that is uncomfortable for the vast majority. The key is having one of these people in there all the time, which is not very common, but the ideal mechanisms to question assumptions is to bring in outsiders.

      Cheers,

      Jorge

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