What happens to disruptive tracks after the initial excitement
After the initial design exercise generates a lot of interest from executive committees, disruptive tracks are often handed to a "customer experience manager" or "innovation manager" who then has to fight to build a case for investment, fight to get prioritised in the company roadmap, and start with an MVP that doesn't challenge the existing business too much. In other words, a great ambition often starts with poor means, and the hard task of proving the case is good without rocking the boat too much.
No wonder most innovation tracks fail — everything is done to limit their impact, success, and support.
What the scale winners do differently
Looking at the revenue, capex, staff, and — most importantly — culture of the largest tech companies (the "GAFA"), nothing prevents large traditional corporations from applying the same principles. It's about deciding what you want and what scale you want.
Main takeaways:
- They target for scale — scale brings sustainability and lets them invest in the right people and projects to grow further without putting the company at stake.
- They invest in new initiatives bigly — revenue funds innovation for further growth and scale, across multiple paths, knowing not all will succeed, but built at a scale that covers the expenses.
- They invest in people — attracting key people and giving them the freedom to act and make impact.
- They apply pressure — on themselves and others, challenging the status quo and not hesitating to disrupt themselves.
- They embrace change — taking in challengers and disruptors instead of buying them out to smother them with old-school processes and thinking.
The real question: how ready is your company?
All of this boils down to a company's ability to respond to change. Do you have the plans? The people? The processes?
Frequently asked questions
Why do most disruptive innovation tracks fail inside large companies?
Because they're handed to an owner who then has to fight for investment and prioritisation, and build a case for success without meaningfully challenging the existing business — everything is set up to limit their impact.
What do the largest tech companies do differently when it comes to innovation investment?
They target scale, invest heavily and broadly in new initiatives knowing not all will succeed, invest in attracting and empowering people, apply pressure on themselves and competitors, and embrace disruptors instead of neutralising them.
What determines whether a company is actually ready for disruptive change?
Its ability to respond to change — concretely, whether it has the plans, the people, and the processes in place to support it.
