What can you learn from a music major who’s first job out of college was that of a secretary for a retail brokerage firm in New York City; who went from there to being an investment banker, and on to become a top ranked equity analyst, to writing a children’s book, and then a blogger on work-life issues, to a hedge fund manager? You can learn how to disrupt yourself!
You might say Whitney Johnson has taken an unconventional career path, or perhaps it might just be the normal path for knowledge workers in the twenty-first century. Johnson adapted the “disruptive innovation” ideas of her business partner, Harvard Business professor and co-founder of Rose Park Advisors, Clayton Christensen, and applied them to her career. She now chronicles her discoveries in a new book titled Disrupt Yourself.
Northstar Leadership Solutions highly recommends this read for:
- High potential individuals charting a career trajectory
- Leaders trying to jumpstart innovative thinking in their companies
- Self-starters ready to make a disruptive pivot into their own business
Disruptive innovation is the idea that the most successful innovations are those that create new markets and value networks, thereby upending existing ones. “The endgame of disruption is a higher demand for what you produce”, states Johnson.
Applying this concept to one’s career can keep you fresh, invigorated, and prevent you from getting stuck, or even help you get un-stuck. Disrupters see a need, an empty space waiting to be filled, and they dare to create something for which a market may not yet exist.
To be fully alive in one’s career and to avoid the plateau of boredom, Johnson says you must learn how to manage the S-curve waves (sigmoid curve), of your career. The sigmoid curve depicts the four stages of product cycle performance over a period of time:
- Inception – the startup, grinding it out, discouraging period where you are working long hours without much reward
- Growth – the steep part of the curve where you begin to move ahead quickly, you’re energized and you begin to experience the fruit of your labor – your synapses are firing, you are competent, and your confidence is soaring
- Maturity – your passion and energy begins to dissipate – you are no longer throwing off endorphins and dopamine – the monetary rewards are good but boredom sets in and you begin to coast
- Decline – your results begin to fade, and as they do, so does your relevance – your sense of entitlement, “the belief that this is the way things are and should always be, that I deserve this”, has lulled you into complacency
You are the product!
With this in mind, Johnson says:
“If you’ve reached a plateau, or you suspect you won’t be happy at the top rung of the ladder you’re climbing, you should disrupt yourself for the same reasons that companies must (consider what Uber is doing to the yellow cab business). People that zigzag careers don’t do it randomly – they do it strategically. If you don’t jump to a new curve on your own, you’re likely to get toppled off by someone else. It’s better to disrupt yourself rather than be disrupted. The trick is to hang on in the low part of the curve, and when you get on the steep part, just enjoy it. When you get to the top of the curve recognize what’s happening, and start to make a strategic plan for how you’re going to jump to the next curve.”
So how do you disrupt yourself? Johnson suggests:
- Target a need that can be met better or more cheaply – “Customers don’t buy products, they “hire” them to fulfill a need. Career disrupters look for a need inside or outside their organization that isn’t being met well. The idea is to play in markets where no one else is playing. Find a way to be compensated financially or through work flexibility and greater job satisfaction. Find a need that you can fill so well that you’re in great need or demand.”
- Identify your disruptive strengths – “Don’t just think about what you do well, but what you can do well that most other people can’t. Disrupters realize market risk is better than competitive risk. Research shows opportunity for success is 6x higher and the revenue opportunity 20x greater when you’re willing to take on market risk vs. competitive risk”. You don’t have to fight for market share with competitors when you are the one who created the market in the first place!
- Step back or sideways in order to grow – “Big companies have a hard time embracing the growth potential in smaller, risker and perhaps more lucrative markets, and people more established in their careers can do the same thing.”
- Let your strategy emerge – “The best disrupters do this. Rather that doing detailed market analysis and developing a deliberate strategy to achieve a certain goal, they’re more flexible; setting out, gathering feedback, and adapting accordingly. Because you are charting an untraditional course, you won’t be able to see the end at the beginning. But that’s ok. Neither did disruptive companies like Netflix or Amazon.”
What should you do first? Johnson says:
- Focus on your strengths – “When you’re stuck you’re not applying your “distinctive strengths”. These are the things you do well that other people in your sphere do not.” Consider these questions for assessing your strenghts:
- “What makes you feel strong? – Those things that make you feel invigorated and successful. Are you applying this in your day to day work?”
- “What exasperates you? – This is often a clue to your strengths. Look at the compliments so many people give you [those that exasperate you – that you discount]. This is one of your biggest super powers. Find a way to apply those in a sphere where other people don’t have those strengths.”
Go ahead…innovate on the inside…disrupt yourself!
“If you want to succeed, you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel worn paths of accepted success.” -John D. Rockefeller
Sources for this article:
- Disrupt Yourself by Whitney Johnson
- Harvard Business Review article titled “Disrupt Yourself” by Whitney Johnson
- HBR Ideacast “Disrupt Your Career and Yourself”
Bill Edmonds is an “Outside-Insider” (an Executive Coach and Consultant), who works with leaders to help them reach their full potential in the areas of organizational and personal development. He spent 24 years with Merrill Lynch until his retirement in 2014, where he led a $100+ million per year revenue wealth management business unit as a Director with the firm.
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