Give Your People License to Disrupt.
The dictionary’s definition of “disrupt” is negative through and through. “To cause disorder or turmoil; to destroy, usually temporarily, the normal continuance or unity; to break apart; to interrupt.” But encouraging your people to be disruptive can have a thoroughly positive impact on your business.

We’re not advocating chaos or anarchy here. But what’s wrong with a little questioning of long-held assumptions? And what might be gained by interrupting a pre-ordained chain of events to see things in a different way?

In the movie Big, actor Tom Hanks plays Josh, a 12-year-old boy who magically wakes up one morning in the body of a 30-year-old man. The man/child later finds himself in a meeting at a major toy company, where a Very Important Executive is showing the company president his hot new product for the year, a toy skyscraper. Millions of dollars have already been committed to make the toy, ship it to retailers and film new TV commercials. But Josh is not swayed. “I don’t get it,” he says. “What’s fun about that?” It’s a question nobody in the room can answer.

In the film, Josh’s innocent but on-target query earns him the enmity of the Very Important Executive. But it also brings him a big promotion and the respect of the company president, who values Josh’s willingness to challenge the status quo.

Would you be willing to reward a “disruptive” employee like Josh? Do the people in your company feel free to question assumptions, champion ideas, and ask “why?” or “why not?” when the majority of opinions are going in the other direction?

Disruptive people can be among your most valuable business assets. If your company encourages their behavior — and encourages more employees to “disrupt” more often — there’s no telling what kind of assumptions you’ll disprove and exciting new answers you’ll discover in the future.

Why Not Both?
Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) is a big, complex organization with a big, complex marketing program. But the organization was sending so many messages in so many media that the most important ideas weren’t getting through. While admissions were increasing, IUPUI’s image remained that of a community college — even though the campus offered a convenient and cost-effective way for students to get degrees from both Indiana University and Purdue University, two of Indiana’s most prestigious institutions of higher learning.

By identifying the combined campus as the important point of difference, Essex Two and its partner, Indianapolis-based Hetrick Communications, repositioned IUPUI’s brand from a long, complicated name to a simple, direct product benefit for the consumer.

The result: “Why not both?” has become the rallying cry for students, faculty and administrators on campus. And best of all, enrollments and the SAT scores of incoming students have continued to rise.

Get Used to It.
The last word goes to scientist, philosopher and inventor Buckminster Fuller, who decades ago beautifully expressed a universal truth of life and business. “Change is normal, change is normal, change is normal,” he said. “I say this to you three times so you might come to appreciate its truth.”

Embrace disruption and the change that it brings.