First Steps Consulting – Startup Strategy  

Clayton Christensen’s idea of distruptive innovation is defined by Wikipedia as “a technological innovation that improves a product or service in ways that the market does not expect, typically by being lower priced or designed for a different set of consumers.” 

The key word in this definition is unexpected.  Disruptive technology is an an unexpected and often apparent illogical approach that initially is counter-intuitive and which only later emerges as apparent genius.

A new effort called PatientsLikeMe (www.patientslikeme.com) is a great example of a distruptive innovation that is turning a seemingly mature industry on its head.  Patientslikeme takes the alternative perspective that individuaI information should be shared rather than protected, and that patients can cooperatively assist in managing their own diagnosis and care.  I can safely call this a disruptive innovation because Clayton Christensen himself refers to it as a disruptive innovation in his book titled “The Innovators Prescription”.    

What intruiges me is the idea of applying distruptive innovation to a pressing societal need rather than its typical application in the technology sector.  In a phrase, Disruptive Social Innovation.  Efforts such as PatientsLikeMe take the victims and turn them into solutions. 

We see a similiar dynamic applied in MicroFinance, and in the education sector this alternative perspective could envision students becoming the teachers, either to each other through peer-to-peer interaction or to themselves as online education liberates students from a classroom and a specific “teacher”.

I would love to claim that I created this term, but a quick Google search will show that Mr. Christensen beat me to the punch here as well, and that there are dozens of sites dedicated to disruptive social innovation.

I will simply highlight three prerequisites that I feel are needed for Disruptive Social Innovation to take hold.

1. Keep it Real: In the social sector, even more than in the private sector, disruptive innovation needs to be addressing a real need.  Real needs in the private sector are much broader and nuanced.  In the social sector, real needs look like suffering or obvious inequality or inbalance.  Because the obvious needs in the social sector are far from being filled, there is no need to go looking for a cause to fight.  Focus on the known needs, but approach them differently.
2. Small Footprint: To be accessible and scalable in the social sector, disruptive social innovation needs to be low cost, and low tech.  In most cases, the targets in the social sector need to be able to access the product or service that is going to change their life. 
3. Network of Viral Evangalists: A disruptive technology that generates early adoption and can project dramatic growth and future capitalization can access risk financing to invest in the marketing and promotion to drive an innovaton to scale.  In the social sector, there is less chance of a future IPO, so disruptive innovation needs to spread through the grassroots promotion of viral word of mouth.  Fortunately, the beneficiaries of effective social innovation are very likely to become the neccessary evangelists.