Clayton Christensen's Innovation Brain 10 Years Later

Check out Jena McGregor's interview in BusinessWeek with Clayton Christensen who wrote "The Innovator's Dilemma" 10 years ago .  The books warns businesses to be alert to competition that goes after new customer groups or low-end markets.  This message still resonates today. 

Key to what Christensen says in this interview, is that blindly listening to your customers to find the next big thing is not the answer.  You must listen to your customers to meet their needs. But, to truly find 'disruptive' growth that changes a paradigm, you need to find a NEW set of customers to lead you in new directions.

The example he uses, is how Starbucks came into the 'middle of the market.'  By this he means they disrupted all the sit-down restaurants.  Starbucks made it inexpensive and easy to have sit-down conversations with friends and colleagues. 

To grow your business, don't follow the new, follow the 'disruption.'