Disruption: More than a buzzword

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Everywhere you look it seems as if someone is talking about the word “disruption.”

Disruptive innovation is written about in articles and blogs on Forbes, Smart Money, and the Harvard Business Review, among others.

An entire industry has flourished around this one word and now there are disruption consultants, disruption awards, disruption conferences, and even disruption classes at major universities.

So what is disruption anyways?  And should you pay attention to it?

Why such buzz about a single word?  Disrupters are defined as individuals who drive dramatic change in organizations.

I suppose the first thing that comes to mind is: is that you?  Is it me?

I know I’m a disruptor, never comfortable in group think or status quo.  I created a hybrid company, where homeless people can contribute to book projects for major corporations. I love to see unique ideas and processes ignited.

But unless you’re an entrepreneur and captain of your own ship – being the change maker can be a challenge.

Disruption by definition means that feathers are ruffled.  Lives are turned upside down. Systems and ideas are, well, disrupted!

Steve Jobs and other disrupters challenge the normal way of doing things.

Think about it.  We all know what works, in our own individual lives and businesses.  But what is it we don’t know we don’t know?

Most people think of the smart phone in terms of initial disruptive technology, because of the way it transformed how and where we do email, social media and work.  Now it’s at your fingertips.  Before, you did email on a computer.

 

Disruption is sexy, and the possibilities are endless.

 

Disruption isn’t foreign to the entrepreneur.  We thrive on risk and the promise of change attached to it because we’ve seen it play out successfully!

Yet even corporate executives like it because they thirst for the golden solution to stagnation. Leaders want results, and disruption might just be the one thing their sales team needs to increase revenues year over year.streaming The Bye Bye Man film

But what does disruption mean to you? As a business woman juggling a career, friends, family, and activities, isn’t life already disruptive enough?  Maybe not.

In order to grow, it’s important to disrupt old business models. 

Let’s stop to consider the 3 ways we can leverage disruption to make a powerful impact:

 

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What is it that needs to be eliminated from your life, circle of influence, or business?

 

Make a list.  Blind spots on a car can be deadly and it’s the same way with a blind spot in businesses, finances, business models, employees, your health, and relationships.  One employee attitude problem can turn into a customer lost.  What is it you might have overlooked that needs addressing?

 

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 Pattern interruption is a term used by psychologists to describe a process of achieving massive change by interrupting what you’re currently doing.  Whether it’s an emotional or psychological pattern, eating habits, or a business system, disrupting the habits (pattern) you have developed is key.

 

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And in order to do more than you are already, to reach that next highest level of mastery, you will have to do something different.  What is that disruptive innovation in your own life and business?  How can you innovate your brand, signage, website, delivery process or communication to customers?  What if you decided to radically disrupt your thinking and double your earnings goal, or triple your client list or impact next year?  What if you decided to lead change in your entire industry?

Get to the whiteboard and start thinking bigger than big.

Disrupt your own brilliance today and make an even bigger impact on the world.

 

Tammy Kling