Week #5 – Developing Strategic Options (Part II)

“Such seemingly unaccountable failures happen in industries that move fast and in those that move slow; in those built on electronics technology and those built in chemical and mechanical technology; in manufacturing and in service industries.”

Failure is not seen in one specific industry or company, not in one size, but across borders in all different industries, sizes, and if they can move and create quickly or they are stuck in at a snail’s pace. 

Clayton Christensen’s article “Introduction: Why Good Companies Fail to Thrive in Fast-Moving Industries” discusses the failures of companies and what can lead to their demise. Christensen broke his article down to five principles that need to be seen to harness disruptive innovation. These include:

·         Companies depend on customers and investors for resources

·         Small markets don’t solve growth needs of large companies

·         Markets that don’t exist can’t be analyzed

·         Organization’s capabilities define its disabilities

·         Technology supply may not equal market demand

While in my current position at the SEI we (read: software developers/researchers, not me specifically) conduct research on cutting edge technologies and innovative ideas that our government customers may not even realize that is possible. Like I have said previously, our division’s motto is “making the recently possible mission practical.”

Our division faces many of these challenges, especially markets that don’t exist can’t be analyzed and technology supply may not equal market demand. While working in such niche markets we face challenges of getting our information to those who would need it. Many times our director poses the question of “why” and especially “who cares?” when looking to publish papers and target conferences to speak at.

Just as Cisco was the first to start talking about the internet of everything, we (at the SEI) are looking to start trends in human-machine interaction, advanced computing, and applied artificial intelligence and machine learning. By speaking on new topics and ideas first in the academic setting it can and will gain traction for those in the same space. Making sure to speak at the right places at the right time allows us to get the demand needed to continue to grow and make smart choices in the projects and research we continue to work on. Getting a feel for and having a wide array of contacts allows our group to see how the specific market is doing (or lack of market if we are the ones initiating a new practice/idea/etc.).

As we continue to grow and expand we will have to make sure we are continuing to harness the principles set by Christensen. Keeping ourselves in check with these will allow us to succeed and not become just a statistic as a failure.