Disruptive Innovation Took A Turn
Meet The Pattern of Disruptions
Pattern of Disruptions is a process for disruptive innovation that is backed up by centuries of observable products, services, and business models. I developed it, and I can demonstrate it. For this article, I chose two examples that are recognizable to most people and that demonstrate the value of my pattern to be descriptive and to be predictive. One example is a product that is currently in its first iteration of the pattern and the second example is a product+service that is on its second iteration of the pattern. After the examples, I will show you the pattern. You can validate it against your knowledge of any product, service, business model in any market, sector, or industry.
Disruptive Innovation is the process of creating new products, services, business models, and/or platforms that redefines customers’ expectations, changes consumers’ purchasing behaviors, and creates a new standard for customer value. (Johnson, 2020).
The first example. The mop.
The year was 1893 and the traditional mop reached the first disrupter, “accessible: breaks down barriers to ownership/consumption.”
“The mop is a patented invention that is part of social history as well as the evolution of house wares. Thomas W. Steward, an African-American inventor, was awarded Patent Number 499,402 on June 13, 1893, for inventing the mop…Steward’s deck mop, made of yarn, quickly became well used for household and industrial cleaning. A wringing mechanism made the process of mopping and cleaning the mop easier and faster”(Madehow.com 2020).
It was 1950 and enters the next disrupter, “dependable: quality, measured by uptime” with sponge mop heads and later the cellulose material mop head was unlocked.
“Another pair of inventors, brothers Peter and Thomas Vosbikian, fled Europe just before World War I and patented over 100 inventions in 30 years. In 1950, Peter Vosbikian developed a sponge mop that used a lever and flat strip of metal to press against the wet mop and squeeze it dry. This automatic mop eliminated the need to bend over and wring the mop repeatedly by hand. Its development was aided by the many technological improvements in the plastics industry that grew out of World War II and made absorbent plastic mop heads possible. Other modifications have made mops even more adaptable to different cleaning chores” (Madehow.com 2020).
It was 1999, and enters the next disrupter, “reliable: infrastructure safety (assets) and digital networks (data)” with a handle wringing and release mechanism was unlocked.
“In 1999, Scotch Brite released a new wet mop made of natural cellulose and reinforced with internal polyester net. The cellulose does not leave lint like a cloth mop and absorbs 17 times its dry weight” (Madehow.com 2020). This is where the Swiffer® team found customers tiding up floors in time for Swiffer® team to visit, which included the arduous process of dragging out the mops, buckets, and cleaners. These customer observation visits led to the development of Swiffer®.
In comes the next disrupter, “usable: expanded utility for purposes not originally intended often enabled by digital connectivity” and iRobot® Braava jet® m6 (6110) Wi-Fi® Connected Robot Mop.
By 2016, the traditional mop was being disrupted through a digital platform (or multisided platform) with the addition of digital platforms Alexa® or Google Voice Assistant. We arrived at “delightful: intense focus on user experience through a digital platform (or multisided platform).”
The next disrupter for the mop in the pattern is “meaningfulness”. Watch for disruptions fitting “meaningfulness: targets Megatrends, e.g. climate change and sustainability; urbanization; aging; disparities and inequalities” such as dematerializations to products and environmental sustainable cleaning solutions.
The second example. Music Storage.
It was 1877. Thomas Edison invented the phonograph. Music storage enters at “accessible: breaks down barriers to ownership/consumption.”
From 1888–1930, music storage had several disruptive innovations in “dependable: quality, measured by uptime” with vinyl record chemistries, processing, and performance. “During the early part of the twentieth century, recording companies struggled to get beyond the three and four minute playing barriers that had been in place since the phonograph’s inception.” “The micro-groove or long-playing record technology built on advances that been available, but unused since the 1930s. By this point the big record companies realized that creating a longer-playing record would require a tougher medium that could hold a smaller groove. They would also require more sensitive electromagnetic pick-ups that would not rapidly wear down the records.”
Into the 1930’s vinyl resin chemistry contribute to a record’s ability to be shared across record companies, systematizing the record and supporting a network. Music storage arrives at “reliable: infrastructure safety (assets) and digital networks (data)”. One of the major advances that had been made in the 1930s was the introduction of vinyl resins. “These records consisted of mixture of vinyl chloride and vinyl acetate, known as Vinylite, which was harder and finer than shellac, and allowed the discs to be cut with 224 to 226 grooves per inch, which was a massive improvement over the former 80 to 100 grooves per inch.” “Decreasing the width and increasing the number of grooves was only one of the ways to make records play longer. The other was to slow down the rate of revolution on the turntable. Throughout the 1930s many companies tried one or both of these techniques to create a longer-playing record, but Columbia was first to successfully combine both of these methods to create a long-playing record.”
1962–1980, three new systems for music entered at “reliable”: the 8-track tape, the cassette tape, and the compact disc (CD).
1987 music storage arrives with MP3 players, followed by Apple’s iPod (2001) and then flash drives for increased storage and connectivity (2009). This is “usable: expanded utility for purposes not originally intended often enabled by digital connectivity.”
2003 music storage arrives at “delightful: intense focus on user experience through a digital platform (or multisided platform)” with Apple’s iTunes decoupling songs from albums — $0.99 a download.
2011 Apple introduced iCloud for music storage and “meaningfulness: targets megatrends, e.g. climate change and sustainability; urbanization; aging; disparities and inequalities” — which untethered music from physical products, dematerializing music storage. iTunes expands access to music — from single downloads limited by the capacity of the iPod — to unlimited subscriptions “bulk” sales.
In 2020 music storage restarts the pattern, bringing with it all of the disruptions from the prior cycle. Apple One offers customers Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, iCloud, and more services in one simple plan. Apple owners can access more content — using the same device. Music content restarts the pattern at “accessible: breaks down barriers to ownership/consumption.”
Here’s my Pattern of Disruptions, which you probably already guessed it from the examples:
“accessible: breaks down barriers to ownership/consumption.”
“dependable: quality, measured by uptime.”
“reliable: infrastructure safety (assets) and digital networks (data).”
“usable: expanded utility for purposes not originally intended often enabled by digital connectivity.”
“delightful: intense focus on user experience through a digital platform (or multisided platform).”
“meaningfulness: targets megatrends, e.g. climate change and sustainability; urbanization; aging; disparities and inequalities.”
Some guidance on my Pattern of Disruptions:
After customers gain access to a disruptive innovation (product, service, or business model), they move on to create expectations for value creation and behaviors in the next disrupters.
Disrupters are impacted by developments in previous disrupters.
A product, service, or business model can be disrupted multiple times, including within the same disrupter — before customers’ expectations result in changes to consumers purchasing behavior.
It’s an evolutionary lifecycle for all markets, all sectors, and all industries.
Finally, Thomas M. Siebel wrote
“In management, I find one of the most important skills is pattern recognition: the ability to sort through complexity to find basic truths you recognize from other situations” (Digital Transformation: Survive and Thrive in an Era of Mass Extinction, 2019).
If you’re in R&D, marketing, or innovation then you likely recognize the individual elements of the Pattern of Disruptions. However, you likely did *not* recognize the pattern, the interactions, or the reactions between the elements.
I believe this is why Tom identified pattern recognition as “one of the most important skills.”
Take a read and share your thoughts…
