Engaging the Workforce in Disruptive Innovation
Twelve Trends that are Changing the Way We Think About Work — Part 12.
While most established companies seek to sustain and improve, disruptive innovators will revolutionize the marketplace by altering and improving products and services in ways that the marketplace did not expect. The massive growth of AI, robotics, and cognitive computing, the tsunami of data, the fundamental change in the nature of careers, and the explosion in contingent work will largely be driven by disruptive platforms. Using these platforms, companies with fewer resources will successfully challenge established incumbent businesses by targeting overlooked segments and delivering more-suitable functionality at a lower price.
Success in the second wave of the 4IR is about developing the right leadership capabilities, workforce skills, and corporate cultures to support digital transformation. The implications for job creation are profound, as there needs to be a revolution in skills acquisition, as well as organizational transformation.
As disruptive innovation suggests a lean approach, we can expect the automation of predictable, repetitive physical work to accelerate exponentially, along with office support and administrative duties. Instead, the new breed of worker will epitomize flexibility with an innate ability to collaborate, both with humans and machines, especially as the Internet of Things (IoT) becomes an even more intrinsic part of everyday life. The 4IR worker will handle more complex tasks and be able to discern rational solutions in high-pressure situations.
From a management perspective, companies must embed the notion of upskilling into the corporate culture and determine where traditional jobs no longer correlate with essential digital skillsets. Once this gap is defined, a digital learning model comes into play and workers become part of a measurable future-proofing strategy.
We have already seen that durable skills will sit virtually on top of hard skills like engineering and programming. Disruptive innovators will be driven by those who have the ability to quickly learn, possess a passion for life-long learning, and have the wherewithal to add value in an unpredictable and insecure environment, rather than those who rely solely on traditional educational routes in an effort to realize the possibility of a long-term career.
Disruptive innovators will be able to adapt to working with machines as peers and even managers, for it is inevitable that the economies of scale required for these companies to adopt new business models and create or penetrate new business ecosystems demand that both humans and machines work together seamlessly. As the pace of change accelerates, C-suite executives will be faced with the “innovator’s dilemma” — whether to try to hold on to an existing market by sustaining innovation, or whether to go after new markets through disruptive innovation.
Logical Design Solutions (LDS) is a digital strategy and design consultancy for global enterprises. We create experiences that transform business and help people work successfully in the new digital organization. Clients come to LDS because of our reputation for intellectual rigor, our foundation in visionary experience strategy, and our commitment to enabling digital transformation inside the enterprise. Learn More about how LDS has dramatically improved the way that some of the largest corporations in the world do business.
