There's a longstanding narrative that disrupters are nimble newcomers taking advantage of complacent incumbents, but a new book co-authored by USC Annenberg professor emeritus Jeffrey Cole and journalist Harlan Lebo offers a deeper look. Cole, also director of the Center for the Digital Future at USC, explains why even smart, humble, or paranoid leaders can be blindsided, especially as AI and quantum computing loom.
Cole notes that disrupters are hard to spot "because you just don’t know who’s in a garage, who’s in a dorm room, who’s in a laboratory," adding that many are just "fooling around" with no specific target. He chronicles how accidental innovations—like Novo Nordisk's weight-loss drug or Google's search engine, originally intended to map web links—show how revolutionary ideas often emerge unexpectedly.
Corporate leaders often fall prey to observational bias, focusing too much on direct competitors and not enough on external threats. Cole recalls sharing disruption analysis with bank CEOs who agreed but claimed their boards wouldn’ tolerate diverting focus from short-term gains. He argues that truly self-reflective CEOs who challenge assumptions and run 360-degree audits are rare, as most prefer awards and speaking engagements over confronting obsolescence.
Source: Wall Street Journal US Business · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing