It was over 20 years that Professor Clayton Christensen defined the concept of “disruptive innovation”. In an interview with the Harvard Business Review back in 2012, Christensen explained that disruptive innovation “(…) transforms a product that historically was so expensive and complicated that only a few people with a lot of money and a lot of skill had access to it. A disruptive innovation makes it so much more affordable and much more accessible that a much larger population have access to it.”

As this notion became widespread throughout the business world, businesses became more and more aware that they had to constantly keep innovating in order to avoid becoming obsolete.

However, as we have witnessed in recent years, the initial concept has been deprived of its original meaning and is now much broader. Nowadays, disruption and innovation are terms thrown around both interchangeably and as new takes on the old “new & improved”. This world is perceived as being booming with innovations, disruptions and a whole lot of these continuous, easy and fast successes. As so, businesses have become eager to discover the next big thing, anxious when they do not discover it right away and fearful that someone else might discover it before them.

Are these feelings justified? Or are they based on false assumptions?
How can businesses make sure they will not suddenly become obsolete?

In the white paper “Four Myths of Digital Disruption” Marion Debruyne, Dean & Professor of Marketing Strategy & Innovation at Vlerick Business School, debunks the major misconceptions about digital disruption, explains the reality and what businesses should do instead of living in constant fear.

Check out the infographic we created based on this white paper! Share it, save it or make it your wallpaper – you will never get sucked into the mythology again.

 
For the full white paper, click here.