Disruptive Innovation: When, How and Why it is Important

A lot of excellent ideas have been actualized through business. Organizing large groups of people to accomplish a variety of complex tasks, designing and selling a product that solves a problem for consumers, creating jobs for people from all walks of life – these are all part of what business contributes to our society.

But that’s not to say that all business related endeavors are productive and worth emulating. They are not. At the enterprise level, businesses (and their employees) fall into organizational traps that prevent innovative ideas and change from emergent. A lack of competition for an enterprise company means they can rest on their laurels and make revenue without focusing on all corners of the market. It stalls innovation and leaves customers unsatisfied.

In this type of situation, a smaller company with fewer resources can challenge the dominant business by offering a new product to an overlooked group of consumers, and often at a lower price. In doing so, they have reintroduced competition into the market, give consumers what they want, and monetized an innovative product that pushes the whole industry forward. It is the process of disruptive innovation, and it is a vital tool for business growth and personal fulfillment.

How is disruptive innovation applied in other areas of life?

Up until recently, disruptive innovation has been linked to businesses processes. However, it has much broader application in the health and wellness community because it promotes the need for continuous self-growth. Top health experts, like Gaby Vargas for example, incorporate principles of disruptive innovation into her writing.

Disruptive innovation overlaps with three key messages in the health and wellness community. They fall into the categories of self-awareness, re-invention, and the pursuit of meaning.

Self-awareness. The first step in actualizing your future happiness is to become more self-aware. Disruptive innovation theory teaches us that only people who look deep down into themselves will fully understand what it is they want, or what it is they do best.

Reinvention. The theory of disruptive innovation, when applied to physical and emotional realities of life, is all about fostering reinvention. How do you go about actualizing the changes you want to see in yourself? Is it through immediate regimentation or gradual spiritual development? Usually, it requires a bolt of something new in your life to kick-start the change, and that’s disruptive innovation in action.

The Pursuit of Meaning. When things are changing rapidly all around you, it is hard to find your center and gain nourishment from life. Disruptive innovation theory can be helpful in these moments because it reminds us that re-invention is the essence of life, and micro-changes occurring every day are not too much to bear. Rolling with the punches and remaining adaptable are key personality traits to living a happy life – or running a successful business.

Conclusion

People working in business may be more familiar with the concept of disruptive innovation than others, but the theory has wide-ranging implications for the pursuit of meaning and fulfillment in life. Principles of the theory play an essential role in the Happytalism movement, as it is only through dynamic re-birth that we can find our true selves.