IF IT AIN’T BROKE...BREAK IT. How to Outmaneuver Disruption

Most large companies have spent the last two decades investing in innovation labs— special units tasked with incubating the next big thing outside the constraints of legacy business models.

Yet from the early 2000s until 2015, nearly 90% of these efforts failed to produce any meaningful results. And while our present-day stakes couldn’t be any higher, the playbook around innovation hasn’t improved. If history is any guide, half of today’s S&P 500 companies will be replaced in the next decade if they continue on this path. If they are to survive the AI revolution, they must learn from the lessons of the digital revolution's casualties. 

Consider Nokia, which at its peak commanded nearly 40% of the global mobile phone market. Yet, when Apple introduced the iPhone in 2007, Nokia’s leadership remained convinced that its basic feature phones would carry the company forward. By 2014, Nokia had sold its mobile business to Microsoft. Kodak, which invented the first digital camera prototype in 1975, held so tightly to its profitable film business that it missed the digital revolution entirely, ultimately filing for bankruptcy in 2012.

Even Blockbuster—once a household name—evaporated almost overnight. These weren’t companies that ignored change; they were companies convinced they were leading it. But the real failure isn’t the lack of ideas—it’s the inability to overturn deeply held assumptions about strategy, culture, and risk. Think about it...

• Most leaders preach innovation, but they often punish those who challenge the status quo.

• Most teams hire for “cultural fit,” not intellectual diversity.

• Most organizations cling to models of past success, while startups make those models obsolete. 

If you’ve prioritized stability over fluidity, you’re in a vulnerable position. The future is determined by those who value creativity over comfort - by leaders who are willing to make unpopular moves before crisis demands them.

Three Strategies for Leaders Who Refuse to Play Defense 

Strategy #1: Reward Dissent, Not Compliance 

Most companies claim to want honest feedback—until someone disagrees with the boss. In the case of Nokia, overlapping strategies, slow decision-making, and reluctance to challenge leadership led to a slow and bureaucratic company.

The result? Once the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturer, Nokia lost nearly all global market share in less than six years. 

The solution: Actively promote those who challenge conventional wisdom—even (especially) when it’s unpopular. Measure how often junior staff voice opposing views in meetings. If that number is low, you have an echo chamber, not an innovation culture. 

The challenge: At your next meeting, assign someone to track how many times junior staff explicitly disagree with senior leadership. If you hear silence, your culture needs more than retraining. 

Strategy #2: Hire Intellectual Rebels, Not Cultural Fits 

“Cultural fit” is code for hiring people who think like you, and groupthink is the enemy of innovation. Xerox PARC invented the modern computer interface, Ethernet, and laser printing—but PARC’s vision was 3,000 miles away from executives who couldn’t see beyond the copier business.

The result? Xerox missed the PC revolution, and others reaped the rewards. 

The solution: Deliberately recruit people with different perspectives, backgrounds, industry experience, and worldviews. If your last five hires all think the same way, you’re building a vulnerability, not an advantage. 

The challenge: Review your last ten hires. If they all come from the same industry, school, or functional background, you’re missing out on the friction that drives breakthroughs. 

Strategy #3: Cannibalize Your Success

The most dangerous words in business? “That’s how we’ve always done it.” Kodak didn’t just miss the digital revolution by clinging to film; it could have transitioned in numerous ways. Take Fujifilm, for example. It reengineered its chemistry expertise into healthcare, skincare, and advanced materials, leveraging its core technology to create new industries. Today, healthcare accounts for nearly 30% of Fujifilm’s global revenue.

The result? Fujifilm acted before its crisis; Kodak waited until it was too late. 

The solution: Identify your most profitable products, then build a plan to render them obsolete—before startups do. If less than 20% of your R&D is aimed at potentially cannibalizing current revenue, your organization isn’t serious about reinvention. 

The challenge: Meet with your R&D or product team this week. Ask what percentage of the budget targets projects that could displace your bestsellers—if answers are vague or defensive, you have work to do. 

The best actions require discomfort, dissent, and the willingness to disrupt your own success.

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TAKE Action 

Don’t wait for disruption to force your hand. Instead:

• Put one of your most profitable products on the chopping block. Identify three ways to make it obsolete—and start building the prototype. 

• Hire at least one outsider from a different background or industry—and give them real authority. 

• Reward your next whistleblower. Publicly celebrate the first leader or team that challenges the existing strategy and offers a better path. 

Remember this: The future belongs to leaders who disrupt themselves BEFORE someone else does. 

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