If you wear Glasses, you’ll probably remember the buzz that Warby Parker created in 2010 when it revolutionized the industry by selling ready-to-wear glasses online.

Glasses-wearers around the US celebrated the Disruptive Innovation.

The CEO of Luxottica (the Italian eyewear company that had previously dominated the market) however, must have had some trouble sleeping that year.

For people who don’t wear glasses, this is comparable to the little mental victory dance we all did when we experienced the convenience of getting online on our smartphones for the first time.

Or (more recently) being able to stream all of our favorite shows instantly whenever, wherever we want.

But, while we celebrate the conveniences, business leaders are probably kept up at night by the worry that something or someone will come along and disrupt their industry the way Warby Parker, Apple or Netflix did.

It’s this difference, the difference between how businesses and consumers react to disruptive innovation, that was on my mind as I sat down to write this blog.

You see, it’s an interesting paradox: the thing that makes a disruptive company so appealing to a consumer is the very thing that makes it so difficult for a competitor to fight back.

A disruptor is successful because it offers a consumer an easier way to do something. At the core of this, it’s innovation and change—it’s doing things differently—that turns an industry on its head and leaves competitors scrambling to regain their footing.

But ‘doing things differently’ is the exact thing that holds an established business back while disruptors race ahead.

After all, effecting change across a whole firm isn’t the easiest of tasks…

But it’s not, by any means, impossible.

Change takes more than a nudge, it takes a good ol’ shove. A shove that we, at JTN, are really quite good at.

We want to talk to you about how your firm can maintain relevancy in today’s increasingly competitive landscape.

Get in touch if you’re ready to have the conversation.

P.S. A good night’s sleep will be free of charge.