Most of the time the tried and true methods of management shared in books like Good To Great or In Search of Excellence are the roadmap to success.

Like any advice, it doesn't work all the time. Christensen shows exactly those situations where competitors enter the marketplace and are ignored because they can't match the current quality and features needed to be successful. The new entrants start by taking the low margin business that no one wants and this proves to be the fuel that allows them to move up market and compete ably as their processes improve. The trouble for established players is the disruptive innovators can do it for less; they break business models.

Publishing is going through this disruptive innovation. First it was mall stores, then big box, and then Amazon. Digital is next and you only need to look at music to see how the players changed to see the effects.

Every industry is ripe for reinvention. Start with Innovator's Dilemma and move on to The Innovator's Solution to see the roadmap for your own disruption.


- Todd Sattersten