The first book, The Innovator’s Dilemma, was published twenty years ago, in 1997. This is the rare case when time does not matter. The book is still relevant, and the principles set forth by the author are still working.
He seeks an answer to the question of why strong, better companies are losing their leading position in the market. Describes in detail the essence of "disruptive" innovations and explains how they affect the business.
A bit about the author
Professor of business administration, teacher, business consultant - with such baggage Christensen is free to write books about business, management and efficiency. However, his education and business experience inspire confidence that this author can be trusted.
Clayton graduated from Brigham Young University, where he studied philosophy, after which he spent two years as a missionary in the Republic of Korea. He studied economics at Oxford University and in 1979 received an MBA degree with a high degree of distinction from Harvard Business School.
Christensen worked as a consultant and project manager at the Boston Consulting Group. He continued his career at the White House as an assistant to the Minister of Transport. One of the founders of CPS Technologies, he served as president and CEO. Left the company to get a doctorate.
Christensen returned to Harvard, where in 1992 he defended his doctorate, and six years later, set a kind of "record", receiving the title of professor.
Christensen now has eight honorary doctorates and an honorary professorship at National Tsinghua University. The author of ten books, he is one of the best-selling authors of business books.
Why is the book worth reading?
In The Innovator's Dilemma, Clayton Christensen reveals the fine line between disruptive and supporting technologies. Accessible and explains in detail the problems that lie behind innovation. Using recent market leaders as an example, he talks about the reasons for the failure of the latter when entering a new market or trying to apply new technologies.
The author analyzes the causes of bankruptcy and company failures. He talks about the correct, proper handling of disruptive technologies that will lead to success and development. This is another value of the book “The Innovator’s Dilemma”. Clayton Christensen, having extensive experience in business administration, shares it with readers and explains the failures of various companies in the field of management organization.
The dilemma itself
To give depth to the stated concepts, to reveal their usefulness for application, Christensen divided the “Innovator's Dilemma” into two parts. Anticipating the general conclusions, he begins the book with in-depth analysis.
The first part of the book describes the general scheme of failure, which explains why the right decisions of the most talented managers can still lead to the collapse of the company. Christensen details the problem of innovation.
The first two chapters reconstruct in detail the history of the hard drive industry. This industry is an ideal training ground for studying failures, as much is known about it, and it has a “fast history”. Entire market sectors sprang up and developed in just a few years, but also quickly and faded.
The third and fourth chapters explain in detail why over and over the leading companies have lost their primacy in the production of hard drives. The author talks about the factors contributing to this fall. And by the end of the first part, a clear outline of their failure is being built.
The principles of disruptive technology
In the second part of the book "The Innovator’s Dilemma" - from the fifth to the tenth chapter - the author tries to justify the five laws of "disruptive" technologies. These principles are so strong that managers who ignore them or, on the contrary, try to fight them, will not be able to confidently lead the company through the storm caused by "disruptive" technologies.
Here, the author explains what success they will achieve if they understand and begin to use these principles. Christensen writes that it is very important to understand the essence of the problem, and not to look for its recipe. The book will help you find the best solution in the circumstances. But it is very important to understand how they developed, what they depend on and whether these decisions will be correct.
At the end of the second part, all these laws are presented and how managers can apply them in their situation or adapt to it.
Reader Reviews
When reading the book “Innovator’s Dilemma”, examples of “disruptive” innovations from life involuntarily come to mind. In general, it shows that nothing lasts forever - everything is changing rapidly, especially in the field of digital technologies, and it is very difficult to predict demand in the consumer market. Namely, it ensures the safe existence of the company and its development.
Ultimately, it all depends on the consumer. And what his preferences will be tomorrow, no one knows, in fact, this is the “Innovator's Dilemma”. Reader reviews confirm that the principles given in the book are applicable in almost any industry. Here you can find answers to questions about why the business collapses and what to do to be among the winners.
With the advent of the Internet, new "disruptive" technologies arose in various fields, so the book described is now more relevant than ever.