By Bill Chatfield, CFD, MSBO Board President, Director of Operations, Walled Lake Consolidated Schools
The phrase, disruptive innovation, often conjures up the idea of new technology or products that improve our lives. Disruptive innovation has existed since the dawn of civilization even though a formal theory or definition didn’t exist until 1995 when Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen is credited with coining the term.
This coincided with the recognition of the impact that the internet would have on society and the business world. It’s worth noting that the internet was invented by a government agency in 1969 (no, it wasn’t Al Gore) but it wasn’t until the advent of the world wide web in 1989 that the societal opportunities for the internet were realized. Such is the nature of disruptive innovators. They generally start small, targeting overlooked segments, and gaining a following, often at a lower price.
According to Wikipedia, disruptive innovation creates a new market and value network that eventually disrupts an existing market, displacing established firms, products and alliances. Disruptive innovation must have the following three components:
- It must contain an enabling technology.
- It must have an innovative business model.
- A coherent value network must exist.
A great example of a disruptive innovator is Zoom and similar platforms. Zoom was created in 2011 yet most of us didn’t know about it until 2020. Despite the existence of video and tele conferencing for many years, it took a pandemic that limited travel and gatherings for society to take advantage of the opportunity the products offered. Now that the advantages of time and the elimination of travel costs are understood, there may be no going back.
So how does this apply to you as an MSBO member? For the first time, this year’s MSBO Annual Conference will take place entirely virtually due to the challenges and constraints of assembling in large groups as we continue to confront the pandemic. MSBO staff have been hard at work reviewing and selecting partners to assist us with offering a first class, effective and professional conference in a totally virtual environment. This includes the preparation of clinics, roundtables, presentations and even the vendor exhibits.
By now, many of you have participated in a virtual MSBO conference or meeting or two and they have proven to be professional and informative events. Based on the components listed above, these events take great advantage of the available technology, they provide the necessary training, updates and continuing education and they enable members to share content and collaborate with a familiar network of peers. These are opportunities that would not have been available just a short time ago.
While most of us hope to return to an in person conference in the future, I hope you’ll take advantage of innovative opportunities to hear knowledgeable colleagues share informative and inspiring information that we can all use to do our jobs better. See you there.
Other Articles in this Newsletter
- 2021 MSBO Board of Directors Candidates
- Do You Have Bus Purchases in Your Transportation Budget?
- Don’t Miss the January 31 Deadline!
- Economics of Learning – Listen to the Podcast
- Ed Stasiak Appointed as the Associate Member Representative to the MSBO Board
- How do you define leadership?
- MSBO Update – January 2021
- Professional Development at Your Fingertips
- Welcome New Members