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Is Tesla Really a Disruptor? (And Why the Answer Matters)

Harvard Business Review

There’s little argument that Tesla is a wildly innovative company. Tesla clearly doesn’t qualify under the traditional definition of a disruptive innovation. For one thing, it’s not clear what disruptive technology the company is offering. car manufacturer and all but three worldwide.

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Let’s Stop Arguing About Whether Disruption Is Good or Bad

Harvard Business Review

That was the essence of Jill Lepore’s essay last year in The New Yorker about the “disruption machine,” in which she argued that, “disruptive innovation is competitive strategy for an age seized by terror” and referred to startups as “a pack of ravenous hyenas” intent on blowing things up.

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When “Scratch Your Own Itch” Is Dangerous Advice for Entrepreneurs

Harvard Business Review

Even with a technological head start, wining the fight for incumbents’ most profitable customers is nearly impossible. But only because Facebook felt that, despite being developed with existing customers in mind, the technology would be appealing to non-gamers for the purpose of messaging and social networking.

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Creating a Future for (American) Cleantech

Harvard Business Review

It was only a few years ago that Governor Deval Patrick poured some $58 million into the company and their much-lauded breakthrough solar technology (String Ribbon). By focusing on a straightforward insight: truly transformative industrial changes aren't driven by technologies replacing technologies , but by systems replacing systems.

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Disrupt Yourself

Harvard Business Review

Six years into my mid-career move, here are some lessons learned from my personal disruptive trajectory: If it feels scary and lonely, you're probably on the right track. The term "disruptive innovation" has become an industry buzzword. Perhaps you too are ready to disrupt yourself. Columbia University professor Amar V.

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How Big Companies Should Innovate

Harvard Business Review

In his seminal work, The Innovator's Dilemma , Clayton Christensen made the point that for disruptive innovations to be pursued effectively, they require autonomous business units. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino has been quite successful using lean operations in his efforts to innovate. He was completely right.

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The Right and Wrong Ways to Regulate Self-Driving Cars

Harvard Business Review

Startups and major tech companies, notably Alphabet’s Google X division , are investing heavily in smart car technology, as are network ride-sharing companies such as Uber and Lyft. “Self-driving” or “smart” cars will simply become whatever we call the next generation of transportation technology.