Show of hands how many of you when you

were in school were sent to the

principal’s office raise your hand

oh ha ha a lot of early disruptors today

you were these silly little things and

now well you are taking over the world

like the telephone did to the telegraph

like the automobile did to the

horse-and-buggy more recently we’ve seen

Toyota disrupt General Motors Netflix

disrupted Blockbuster and now cable TV

disruptive innovation it follows a

framework the disruptor secures a

foothold at the low end of the market

think Netflix in the 90s initially its

products were inferior its position weak

Blockbuster could have crushed them like

a cockroach

but they didn’t market leaders rarely

bother it’s just a silly little

door-to-door DVD rental service let’s go

after bigger higher margins better the

bad news or the good depending on your

point of view is that once a disrupter

gains a foothold it too is motivated by

bigger better stranger things and so it

goes personal disruption is how you take

all these ideas and make them meaningful

to you you start at the bottom of a

ladder climb to the top and then jump to

the bottom of a new ladder like the

children’s game chutes and ladders Lady

Gaga she is a master of personal

disruption in 2008 she goes straight to

the top of the charts and what does she

do for an encore she jumps to the bottom

of a new ladder one that could easily

have put off her fan base what does she

do she collaborates with Tony Bennett on

a jazz album she does a Sound of Music

tribute Lady Gaga at the Oscars then she

produces a country album but the jump

it paid off her performance at the Super

Bowl in 2017 had the largest music

audience ever and now a star is born the

big difference with personal disruption

is that your Toyota and your General

Motors your Netflix and your Blockbuster

you’re the silly little thing and you

take over the world most of us most of

you in this room have to hold this

tension because you’re not a start-up

it’s not your first job the old and new

have to coexist because you are

disrupting you.