Matt Garrat of Salesforce Ventures believes that disruptions are increasing in every industry. The managing partner points out that these arise from the increasing computing power, and adoption and sharing of technologies between businesses and organizations. It leads to more efficient markets, a wider reach of accessing talent and resources, and increased global competition.
A Negative View on Change
Although these can benefit both startup businesses and already established organizations, disruptions to an industry are still viewed negatively by executives. Garrat states that this arises from a lack of confidence in the face of change. Very few executives believe their company can survive changes despite knowing such events are inevitable.
Garrat states that this stems from the belief that these disruptions happen by chance, and only constitute a win-or-lose result. However, these sentiments are far from the reality. Disruptions can inspire innovation in established organizations, and new ideas from startups. It can even help different companies to work together for the benefit of their industry and customers.
Embracing Disruption
New technologies can and have been the cause for some companies to lose. This only happens when the more established companies avoid adapting to disruptions in their industry. There have been cases, such as Best Buy and Amazon, when an established company was able to keep up with the changes brought about by a newcomer in an industry. But, this requires the executives to understand and commit on how it can apply to their business.
If the executives do it right, the company can thrive in the new ecosystem and evolve as a business. Of course, it would require investing on talent and assets to embrace these disruptions. In most cases, there is not an option to avoid disruptions since embracing it becomes a necessity for a business to survive.