More Information: https://flevy.com/browse/flevypro/4-stages-of-disruption-5265 Organizations are constantly trying to innovate and, likewise, all industries will eventually be disrupted, as new products, businesses, and industries emerge. No industry is safe from Disruption. In a 2017 PwC survey of 1,379 CEOs around the world, 60% said their market has already changed or completely reshaped in the past 5 years and over 75% anticipate they would by 2022. This presentation discusses the 4 Stages of Disruption. Research has found Innovation that eventually leads to Disruption follows a 4-stage evolution: 1. Disruption of Incumbent 2. Rapid and Linear Evolution 3. Appealing Convergence 4. Complete Reimagination Understanding this 4-stage model will help us understand what design choices to prioritize and when. At any given time, different products and organizations are likely to be at different stages relative to local “end point” of Innovation. Additional topics discussed include Disruptive vs. Incumbent Dynamics, the Consumer Adoption Curve, Endgame Niche Strategies, among others. This deck also includes slide templates for you to use in your own business presentations. Got a question about the product? Email us at flevypro@flevy.com.

1. 7/10/2021 Disruption Is Inevitable. How Do We Manage through Disruption? | by Mark Bridges | Jun, 2021 | Medium
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Mark Bridges
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Disruption Is Inevitable. How Do We Manage
through Disruption?
Mark Bridges Jun 30 · 5 min read
Note: This article originally published by my colleague David Tang.
No industry is safe from Disruption. Disruption can be born from a number of sources–
e.g. new technology, regulatory changes, or a global pandemic, to name a few.
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2. 7/10/2021 Disruption Is Inevitable. How Do We Manage through Disruption? | by Mark Bridges | Jun, 2021 | Medium
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In a 2017 PwC survey of 1,379 CEOs around the world, 60% said their market has
already changed or completely reshaped in the past 5 years and over 75% anticipate
they would by 2022.
Research has found that Disruption follows a 4-stage evolution.
1. Disruption of Incumbent
2. Rapid and Linear Evolution
3. Appealing Convergence
4. Complete Reimagination
To visualize how the Disruptor captures market share, let’s view the 4 Stages of
Disruption against the backdrop of the Consumer Adoption Curve.

3. 7/10/2021 Disruption Is Inevitable. How Do We Manage through Disruption? | by Mark Bridges | Jun, 2021 | Medium
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1. Disruption of Incumbent
At this initial stage, the Disruptor introduces a new offering with a distinct point of view,
knowing it does not solve all the needs of the entire existing market. However, the
offering provides a better solution and will advance the state of the art in technology
and/or business.
At this point in time, the existing offering is widely used and a satisfactory solution. As
such, the Incumbent dismisses the new product or service as something that is not
relevant to existing customers or market. In other words, the Incumbent is in a state of
denial that the Innovation poses an existential threat, as that truly appears to be the
case.
Furthermore, it is not a good business decision to bet on an emerging, unproven
technology with an unproven product-market fit. For the Incumbent, there is
tremendous risk to bet on a new technology, while it already has a successful existing
offering.
The very nature of disruption is such that Incumbents see more downside risk in betting
the company than they see upside return in a new technology. This is known as the
Innovator’s Dilemma, as coined by Clayton Christensen. As such, Disruptive Innovations
are typically driven by new, startup companies–due to this risk-reward ratio.
2. Rapid and Linear Evolution
In the second stage, the Disruptor begins to build out the offering through rapid
Innovation. It also captures the Early Adopters. It completes the Customer Value
Proposition after initial traction with early customers.
The Incumbent begins to compare its full-featured offering to the new offering and show
deficiencies. In other words, the Incumbent begins to recognize and validate the
legitimacy of the Innovation as a potential threat.
3. Appealing Convergence
By this stage, the Disruptor has reached the Early Majority market on the Consumer
Adoption Curve and is directly competing against the Incumbent.

4. 7/10/2021 Disruption Is Inevitable. How Do We Manage through Disruption? | by Mark Bridges | Jun, 2021 | Medium
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The Incumbent considers cramming some element of disruptive features to existing
product line to sufficiently demonstrate attention to future trends, while minimizing
interruption of existing customers.
4. Complete Reimagination
At the final stage, the Disruptor approaches a decision point, as new market entrants can
benefit from all that its product has demonstrated, without embracing the legacy
customers (as done in the previous stage). The question now becomes: Do we embrace
the legacy market more, or keep pushing forward?
At this point, the Incumbent is too late to respond.
Interested in gaining a deeper understanding about Innovation and Disruption? Take a
look at our framework, the 4 Stages of Disruption. Understanding this 4-stage
framework will help us understand what design choices to prioritize and when. At any
given time, different products and organizations are likely to be at different stages
relative to local “end point” of Innovation.
Want to Achieve Excellence in Innovation Management?
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Management. Our frameworks are based on the thought leadership of leading
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To be competitive and sustain growth, we need to constantly develop new products,
services, processes, technologies, and business models. In other words, we need to
constantly innovate.
Ironically, the more we grow, the harder it becomes to innovate. Large organizations
tend to be far better executors than they are innovators. To effectively manage the
Innovation process, we need to master both the art and science of Innovation. Only then
can we leverage Innovation as a Competitive Advantage, instead of viewing Innovation
as a potential disruptive threat.
Learn about our Innovation Management Best Practice Frameworks here.
Do You Find Value in This Framework?

5. 7/10/2021 Disruption Is Inevitable. How Do We Manage through Disruption? | by Mark Bridges | Jun, 2021 | Medium
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