We’ve heard this umpteen times: Disruption is the future; businesses should be flexible enough to adapt to it; the market belongs to businesses that thrive under disruption, and so on.

But what if the disruption was already at your doorstep, and you missed the memo?
Mitch Lowe’s fantastic article in the latest edition of Digitalist Magazine opens with this clincher:

“You know you’re being disruptive when everybody says: There’s no way that business is going to work.”

For the uninitiated – Mitch Lowe is the co-founding executive of Netflix, the president of RedBox, and a top-listed business speaker.
Mitch talks about how, way back, Blockbuster refused the offer to buy a 50% stake in Netflix, because they didn’t think Netflix was a good idea.

Interesting isn’t it? There it was, this million-dollar opportunity, just sitting at the goalpost. And Blockbuster missed the kick, by a mile! And this is not an isolated occurrence. You’d be amazed at how often ground-breaking ideas are written-off by big businesses – because investors didn’t have the right predictive insights or they simply were resistant to change.

Think about this:
Today, Netflix is booming, with more than 167 million subscribers worldwide.
And, Blockbuster?
Well, they went out of business 10 years ago.

Identifying disruptive trends through data-driven analytics

There are a lot of thinking-points in Mitch’s article. I’ll leave you with one.
When was the last time you laughed away an idea because you thought it was absurd?
If it was anytime recently, I’d suggest you think again. Do some market research; use powerful analytical tools to extract hidden insights – and let your data do the talking, instead of simply relying on your instincts.

I bet it can make a world of difference. Do you think disruption is the future?

So, next time you’re prepared to meet disruption head-on, as it walks through your door!

Let me know what you think.

By: Venkat Nanduri