Disruption and Speed of Change

• Disruption develops in a non-linear way -- first almost invisibly for years
• Then it suddenly, after it has reached a tipping point, begins to be "noticed"
• Incumbents' initial reaction -- is "Why Worry"?
• But when it suddenly accelerates, sets a panic in the incumbents.

A disruption is therefore a process, not an event. It emerges and develops, sometimes for years, without any noticeable impact, at least from the point of view of the incumbents, who thus tend to dismiss it. As time passes without visible impact, the dismissal seems more and more justified when, after sometimes a long while, it goes into accelerated mode. And then it generates shock and surprise, but this shock and this surprise are entirely self-inflicted. They result from the inability from incumbents to appreciate the true non-linear nature of the disruption.

Courtesy: Philippe Silberzahneng