The confusion surrounding disruption.

In conversations over the last few weeks, I have repeatedly noticed that many decision-makers have recently started talking about disruption. In doing so, they are mixing digital transformation, disruptive business models, Apple and, since the end of March, Tesla into a uniform mishmash. And underpinning quotes from entrepreneurs with figures and pseudo-studies that are not really connected. Digital transformation has nothing to do with a disruptive business model or the disruption of industries. A plea for more clarity and “one thing at a time”.

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Not so long ago…

Not so long ago, many decision-makers were not even aware of what digital transformation was. When I founded a consulting agency 4 years ago that focused on digital transformation, I still had to explain to a lot of people what this digital transformation was.

It’s different today. Everyone is an expert. When I’m asked at drinks receptions, which I try to avoid, what I do, I occasionally reply that all my activities are directly or indirectly related to digital transformation. And it’s not uncommon for me to receive a trusting nod: “Ah… So with mobile and machine learning”. In the past, I would probably have had to explain myself, but now I simply reply: “Yes, exactly”. As euphorically as possible…

There’s no question that the topic of digital transformation is on people’s minds. And with it, the awareness that something has to change in companies.

That is very positive. It doesn’t matter whether it’s driven by fear or motivated by opportunity. The main thing is that something happens.

Digital transformation is not the same as disruption

The higher up you go in the hierarchy, the more strategic the conversations become and it is not uncommon for decision-makers to tell me grandiloquently about their strategic ideas, how they are going to turn the market upside down and how they are going to implement disruptive models.

In most cases, their companies have not even implemented the basics of digital measures. But they all want to be like Steve Jobs or Elon Musk. Without knowing what these people have gone through with their companies. But it doesn’t matter.

On the other hand, there are those who have taken very active and successful steps in this digital transformation. And have learned that it is very difficult to get even mundane projects through in larger companies. Those who have hired intrapreneurs and non-conformists who drive projects forward can consider themselves lucky.

These managers don’t usually talk so pompously about disruption or super-ambitious digital projects. Quite simply because they have already given themselves a black eye in the past. And because they know that the disruption of an industry is one thing and the digital transformation of a company is another. And they are not the same thing.

Adaptation to user behavior

I’m sorry to have to use my explanatory model for digital transformation again. But digital transformation is primarily about adapting technological means to changing customer behavior.

Disruption, on the other hand, solves an existing customer problem in a completely new way. This can include digital components, and often does at the moment, but does not necessarily have to be the case. I have already explained a lot about the nature of industry disruption here.

Successful digital transformation

There are a few companies that are managing the digital transformation quite well. Significantly, it is precisely those that are not so much in the spotlight when it comes to digital. Take Ikea, for example: from planning to aftersales, there are many digitally supported offerings depending on the situation, which largely correspond to current user behavior. It is in the nature of things that it is not spectacular things that move companies forward, but the everyday things that we as consumers actually expect: product data that is correct, information about availability (also in detail), processes that are available online in a lean, simple and customer-friendly way. Does this make Ikea a disruptive player? Hardly.

And yet Ikea was disruptive: Ikea disrupted the furniture industry a long time ago by creating a product that solved the customer’s furniture problem better than the existing industry. Digital was nothing back then.

The one is only related to the other to the extent that accelerating technological progress is enabling new disruptive models at ever shorter intervals. The proportion of digital in the sense that it is currently IN is relatively small.

From 0 to 3,000

But of course it’s great to talk about these lighthouse examples. That you want to become the next Amazon for XY, generate an iPhone effect or have as few assets as Uber. It makes sense, we love the brave new world. It has little to do with reality.

The reality is that, as a manager, you have a whole load of history, a culture that has grown over time, active employees who have not yet been written off and responsibility for hundreds if not thousands of employees. And that makes it difficult to jump or sprint. But that is exactly what is needed for disruption.

“So do the basics first. Create simple digital offerings, create an understanding among your employees that customers are changing and that it is never, but never the customer’s fault if your offering no longer really fits!”

And please, for your own sake, give it a rest with untrustworthy statements. Because it reflects badly on your company. Like when Sergio Marchionne claims that Fiat can build a competitive electric car within 12 months once Tesla shows that they can make money with the Model 3. This shows that he doesn’t understand how disruption works, that profits are incredibly third-rate for disruptive start-ups and that Fiat is de facto finished. “We only copy if someone has made it commercially successful.”

What looks like a safe strategy at first glance is actually the sure way to death in our world of rapid technological change. Elon Musk said on the subject (not in response to Marchionne): “If a trend gets obvious, you’re too late”. That’s how it works in the world of disruptive business models and start-ups. These are all huge bets on the future.

Simple workers in the Lord’s vineyard

This is not the world of Corporate Europe. This makes these disruption statements all the more disconcerting for me. This “we are the Uber of, the Amazon of, the Apple of something”… Anyone who deals with these issues and doesn’t simply parrot the “consultant and analyst speak” can’t really take these people seriously. Please don’t confuse this with a lack of respect.

Top execs like Herbert Bolliger, head of the retail market leader Migros in Switzerland, are real role models for me. In an interview with Swiss radio last Saturday(unfortunately only in Schwyzertütsch), he answered the question of whether you, Migros, are not visionary enough when it comes to digitalization with honesty and credibility: you are still apprentices when it comes to digitalization and you are simply not technology people. But they are learning and have many good employees. This is a remarkable statement in that Migros generates more than 1.5 billion in online sales and has repeatedly taken on a pioneering role through various digital initiatives and clever acquisitions. If he were to take his cue from the competition, he could casually respond with “Digitalization? Been there – done that”. Or that he wants to make Migros the Uber of the retail trade. But he is too grounded and too clever for that.

I have faith in companies like Migros that, although they are giants, they can undergo transformation processes and successfully align themselves with their customers.

Get to work

There are no shortcuts to places that are worth reaching. Digitization is hard work that demands everything from you as a manager. Time is of the essence. So instead of showcasing your strategies and concepts at events, you might be better off staying in the company with the team. And do your work. As unspectacular as that is at first.