Good morning.
Ever since Clayton Christensen published The Innovator's Dilemma a quarter century ago, “disrupt or be disrupted” has been a byword of business. But a new book out this week, Beyond Disruption, challenges that conventional wisdom. Written by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, authors of Blue Ocean Strategy, it argues business has become too focused on disruption. Why attack well-entrenched incumbents when the world offers so many opportunities to create value in undefined markets? CEOs would do better for themselves and for society if they pursued nondisruptive innovation. Their examples: Go-Pro, Square, Kickstarter, or—one of my personal favorites—Mick Ebeling of Not Impossible Labs. To those who argue such opportunities are few and far between, Kim and Mauborgne say nonsense. All that’s missing is creativity. And by avoiding disruption, companies can assure they create more value for society than they destroy.
“Our idea is meant to complement existing theories, not replace them,” Mauborgne told me last week. “Theories help us see, but they also act as blinders. You don’t have to disrupt to innovate. There is an alternative path that is often overlooked, where business and society can thrive together.”
Also, out this week is Oscar Munoz’s book, Turnaround Time, about his effort to revive United Airlines. Munoz had an eventful five years at the helm, punctuated by the heart attack he suffered just days into the job. But history may better remember Munoz as the first CEO to confront the full power of social media. On an April Sunday in 2017, Dr. David Dao was dragged off a United plane by security officers in Chicago for refusing to give up his seat—an event that was videotaped and posted on social media. What followed was a series of public relations disasters that within 24 hours had turned the unfortunate incident into a global crisis.
Munoz told me last week the incident changed the way he led the company. “We quickly stood up an organization that monitored social media and a quick-response team. Every time I was in the office, I would stop by. Social media has a reach beyond your wildest dreams. And it moves quickly. You need to take it seriously.”
By the way, both books illustrate the rising importance—and increasing difficulty—of maintaining trust with workers, customers, and society at large in today’s fishbowl business world. That’s what led Fortune to launch The Trust Factor newsletter. This week’s note, out yesterday, focuses on the trust challenge faced by A.I. as it rockets into adoption. You can sign up here.
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Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com
