The Innovator's Dilemma
by Clayton M. Christensen, L J Ganser, Don Leslie · first published 1997
43% recommend53% neutral4% critical
Why HN recommends it
Explains disruptive innovation through detailed case examples, showing how successful incumbents get displaced by cheaper new technologies. Suits founders, product people, and anyone analyzing why established firms fail.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
In his book, The Innovator's Dilemma [3], Professor Clayton Christensen of Harvard Business School describes a theory about how large, outstanding firms can fail "by doing everything right." The Innovator's Dilemma, according to Christensen, describes companies whose successes and capabilities can actually become obstacles in the face of changing markets and technologies. ([Source][1]) This book takes the radical position that great companies can fail precisely because they do everything right. It demonstrates why outstanding companies that had their competitive antennae up, listened astu
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Christensen's book, The Innovator's Dilemma, is well worth reading. I don't think it's one of Christensen's examples (it's been a while since I read the book) but IMO the all-time greatest blunder of this type was Sears closing down their catalog…
on “Ask HN: Insider history of the demise of Kodak?” ↗…growth, etc. You should know what an inverted yield curve is, and where to look to keep up with those charts (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/T10Y2Y). It's important to read Clayton Christensen "The Innovator's Dilemma". I also highly recommend reading ARK Invest's research reports. They cost nothing but an email address, and I have found these all to be enormously valuable in my own research on this. If you just want…
on “I suspect many task deadlines are designed to force engineers to work for free” ↗…them yourself. Journalists and non-practitioners fight back and forth about words like this because they have no skin in the game. I will continue happily using the word "disrupt" because I read the Innovator's Dilemma and I think Christensen highlighted a powerful concept that needed a label. And I will continue using the word "cloud" because I remember what it was like to have to buy a dedicated server every time…
on “Stop “Disrupting” Everything” ↗…place of their predecessors with the usual teething pains, but represented qualitative improvements that in a while were game changers. What you are doing is disruptive innovation at its finest (read The Innovator's Dilemma for the full treatment). There's a place for both, but I believe that while what one is working on might strongly emphasize one or the other, one should be reasonably grounded in both. Otherwise you…
on “You Can't Predict Who Will Change The World” ↗…#patriarchy, but because the tech industry 1980s was entirely wiped out like dinosaurs with the move from 5" HDDs to 3.5" HDDs and the move from mainframes to hobby personal computers. Clayton Christensen's "The Innovator's Dilemma" and AnnaLee Saxenian's "Regional Advantage" will do far more to explain why the engineering/computing world pre-1980s disappeared than any revisionist explanation.
…Taleb, Nassim Nicholas (2005) Fooled by Randomness, 2E _________ (2010) Black Swan: Impact of the Highly Improbable, 2E BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT / ENTREPRENEURSHIP / INNOVATION Christensen, Clayton (1997) Innovator's Dilemma Stone, Brad (2013) Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon Wallace, James and Jim Erickson (1992) Hard Drive: Bill Gates and Making of the Microsoft Empire Walton, Sam with John Huey (1992)…
on “Ask HN: What are the must-read books about economics/finance?” ↗If this is true, then he (Craig Newmark) really needs to read the innovator's dilemma (http://www.amazon.com/The-Innovators-Dilemma-Revolutionary-B...). TLDR: If you allow yourself to become a prisoner to your success, you're actually making your continued success unlikely. You can solve…
on “Bye Bye Craigslist” ↗…was going to take over the world. Then Apple dethroned Microsoft. And on it goes. There was Sears that dominated retail. Then Walmart shoved them aside. Now Amazon stepped all over Walmart. See "The Innovator's Dilemma" by Christensen for a book full of examples.
on “Research does not say that people produce more when working 40 hours per week” ↗Bing went after Google's center. The way to go after a dominant player is go after a market niche they are ignoring, then expand from there. See "The Innovator's Dilemma" by Christensen.
on “Amazon, Facebook and Google can all be beaten” ↗…be as relevant for B2C or other approaches. Exceptional Selling - Jeff Thull - more on Thull's selling approach. The Prime Solution - Jeff Thull - and yet more still on Thull's selling approach. The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail - Clayton Christensen Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future - Peter Thiel, Blake Masters How To Measure Anything - Douglas Hubbard.…
on “Ask HN: As a technical founder what is the best business book you've read?” ↗I encourage anyone with this perspective to read Clayton Christensen’s “The Innovator’s Dilemma”. The book examines cases where the world is moved by disruptive technology - one property is that they are at first derided and dismissed as too limited / impractical / toys, before eclipsing the capabilities…
on “Bitcoin's First $1k Weekend Since 2017 Marks Nine-Month High” ↗The classic business management book The Innovator's Dilemma specifically recommends moving groups working on potentially disruptive new products into separate facilities. That helps them avoid distractions and makes it harder for "corporate antibodies" to kill…
on “Why Google+ Failed” ↗If you don't have a lot of money to invest, it's far better to put that cash into developing yourself. That can be as simple as reading books such as The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen or The Virtue of Selfishness by Ayn Rand, or following an interest you already have (mine are things like machining, chemistry, structural engineering, neon art). If you have a…
on “Is Being Salaried a Scam?” ↗…"old guard" companies, but they ironically fail to capitalize on the invention, and eventually fall by the wayside as they're surpassed by younger upstarts. It's been a while since I read the book ("The Innovator's Dilemma—a classic!), but IIRC, Christensen disruptions are characterized by: - worse performance, but... - better reliability and other characteristics, thus requiring... - new markets to be developed that…
on “GM Recalls All Chevy Bolt Electric Vehicles” ↗1) Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell (very interesting ideas) 2) Innovator's Dilemma (for understanding what can work well) 3) Inside Intuit (for a great business story) 4) Eric Sink on the Business of Software
on “Best Books For a Startup?” ↗