Week 5: Disruptive Behaviors

Immediately upon reading these articles, I realized I did not see Google's name, and at first, I wonder if it was a timing thing. Was Google not relevant when Clayton Christensen wrote his writing or by some chance was Google like Cisco in it understands that it must make a significant adaptive change to stay ahead of the game and never fall behind. I am by no means an expert on Google, but I can recognize that it has made some very disruptive behavior in its industry that has allowed for it to remain a significant player in the game. Like Cisco, it was understood that sometimes these disruptions occur by breaking off and letting smaller companies emerge and then pulling them back in. Individually, Google has entered the philanthropy, arts, and now education. Google has over 100 campuses around the globe like Cisco CEO pointed out, Google is branching off to other places where it can be an industry change agent, utilize the capacity in that market all while improving the quality of life in a new area. It seems that Google like Cisco is always developing new technologies and not wondering if others are but are investing into its R&D departments at a pace and money that does not cause the entire company to shake if the project is not a success.

Another industry that I see as always having to stay ahead and be disruptive is the government. This is to my personal bias as I work in city government and I know that we are always faced with having to stay ahead, and we cannot get caught up on the significant trends but must still maintain a level of thinking of how to shake things up in the wake of turmoil. I see government engaging in disruptive behavior when it continues to think of new and creative ways to keep industries or sectors that are dying alive. Across the country, we have seen many cities heavily investing in their art spaces and scenes. For the past, few generations the art or creative space has been neglected by many industries outside of fashion and even mainstream media. Pittsburgh, for example, has partnered with its philanthropy community to keep these spaces protected and to have a means to offer the local artist a way of means. It was not until most recently have you began to see a trend of states adopting this and it has come at the expense of many artist relocating and taking their talent to cities and places that have been recognized for their continued commitment. Even in workforce development, I see government acting as a disruptor. Recently Pittsburgh adopted a new policy that it will use to work with the construction industry, as we move into a tech world we have seen how other sectors have become neglected, but these same industries will inevitability always be needed. Pittsburgh policy adoption focuses on targeted recruitment that aims to widen the spectrum of those recruited.