You and your colleagues may often talk about what disruptor is just over the horizon. You might talk about AI, machine learning, robotics and someone will throw in a comment about “big data”. You might discuss how there is so much hype around future disruptors but little real action. But still, there is an inkling that there is a disruptor for your industry not far away. The problem then is, what might it be?

A big part of the problem is that you are so damn busy with the current challenges and opportunities, the thought of going looking for more is simply not on the agenda. Then there are more sinister reasons, as Gerald Kane considers in this MIT Sloan Management Review article on company readiness for disruption. Kane writes about senior leaders not wanting to spend time or money to look at what is just over the horizon, due to a selfish focus on the short-term: “I won’t be around when the proverbial hits the fan.” That’s not you of course!

As the stats from the article show (see figure), 87% of executives are expecting disruption from technology, let alone from new business models or novel approaches to the way work is done.

What I have experienced in working in the disruption space is that it does not take a long time to find out what is over the horizon. And that the horizon is much, much closer than first thought.

The New Year is the perfect time to take time to think about disruption. Put it in your diary now and I will give you some more food for thought in my next few blogs.