Disruption!
A word with much negative connotation yet in recent times has found its way in main stream discussions as being the way to untold heights. It seems to be the buzz word everyone is talking about even in businesses. According to the Cambridge dictionary, it is “an interruption in the usual way that a system, process, or event works”. This indicates that, disruption can either be pulsating interruption or continuous interruption. Whether an interruption can bring a change or not is an arguable quest which this article seeks to unfold.
Meanwhile, disruption can take place anywhere at any time. However, it can also be spontaneous or a well-thought-out plan. Arguably in effect, the underlining thought of change management itself can be considered as being borne out of a well-thought-out disruption. Change is the encapsulation for disruption. That being said, at the heart of change is the view of interrupting what the norm is to bring in a new desired state. As this journey unfolds, more light is thrown on this in the developing points.
concept
Conceptually, disruption is an everyday matter. Schreiber (2016), posits that as disruption becomes an everyday occurrence, we explore its primary causes and the megatrends that are shaping our future. To think of it in this light, gives way to consider disruption as something that has always been with us. If so, then how come we are now being conscious of it? I will say, its presence with us and its perception in the past has not been a plausible matter. Haven’t said this, one can trace in the history of man’s development, that it has always been the well-thought-out disruption that is accepted, leaving the spontaneous ones because they do not meet set criteria for development. Oh! Ok, then it forces anyone who has an interrupt idea to be in line and wait till their turn before the idea comes out. This is the main reason why the thought of disruption seems to be new with us now. Because it was associated with something negative. A typical example of such is the great scientist Nikola Tesla. He was a disruptor. But of course, if there are no regulations too, then the more the disruptions the more society’s entropy increase.
Therefore, based on the definition, the concept of disruption is that whenever there is a change to the norm as we know it to be, that is disruption. It can be managed or not. Arguably, if well managed, it is termed as change management, a formal word that encapsulates disruption. If not managed, it can become just another idea that can fall into the “idea black hole[1]”.
However, in recent times, it seems that such ideas which fell into the black hole, are resurfacing due to the needs of the many that calls for it. That being said, since there are not many formal ways to deal with them, they end up taking the lead in bringing us into what we call the future. It is one such idea that has made it possible for this article to be in the lime light. This is purely based on personal observations and considerations.
[1] Idea black hole behaves in a way to sink any idea that comes up in time. In this regard, it can be a system that crushes ideas in a cynical manner.
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