The Dangers of Thinking Small in the Face of Disruptive Technology

Did this headline catch your attention?  I hope it did; it’s taken directly from a series of articles in Forbes by Chunka Mui about Google, and the development of a “driverless” car. As a recovering car nut, I am fascinated by the ongoing marriage of cars and technology to create an ever better, safer, faster and more responsive driving experience.

Photo Credit: collisonrepairmag.com

 
What’s intriguing is that the leader in this ongoing development is not one of the big car companies, but Google.  Why Google? Where the mainstream car companies are taking an incremental approach to a driverless car, Google is thinking big (thus the headline for this blog). “Thinking big allows innovators to start with a clean sheet of paper and consider a full range of design approaches and possible futures. They consider not only building on current capabilities and business models, but also moving in brand new directions.”
 

The car companies, on the other hand, are taking a piecemeal approach that allows them to introduce “premium” features (and premium revenue streams!) while also reducing their liability exposure from drivers. They are thinking small.

 

So where is the danger in the thinking small approach?  The answer is to look at Kodak, Block Buster, Borders and other former market leaders; they show us that incremental change allows huge gaps for bolder and more aggressive companies, like Google, to exploit.  That is the danger.

So what does this mean for our readers in design, construction, retail and other industries and markets? To me, it means that innovation alone is not enough if we fail to see the big picture and think big.  It means solutions to problems we may not even have today will very likely come from sources truly outside our box, or comfort zone.  That our world is changing far more rapidly than we realize and we need to look in many different areas, and disciplines to find, and develop better solutions for our clients and ourselves.  That starting with a clean sheet of paper can be a beautiful thing.

 
Here is a link to the Forbes article (Part 4): http://www.forbes.com/sites/chunkamui/2013/02/12/googles-trillion-dollar-driverless-car-part-4-how-google-wins-2/

What do you think it means? Please let me know your thoughts.

 

-John Gill

jgill@listerarch.com