The Effect of Disruptive Innovation in My Organization

I have many definitions for disruptive innovation, but the best summary has come from Disrupting College: How Disruptive Innovation Can Deliver Quality and Affordability to Postsecondary Education (Christensen, Horn, Caldera and Soares, 2011). This summary follows:

Disruptive innovation is the process by which a sector that has previously served only a limited few because its products and services were complicated, expensive, and inaccessible, is transformed into one whose products and services are simple, affordable, and convenient and serves many no matter their wealth or expertise. The new innovation does so by redefining quality in a simple and often disparaged application at first and then gradually improves such that it takes more and more market share over time as it becomes able to tackle more complicated problems.

Because I work in higher education, many applications come to mind, the most obvious to me is the online degree program. I am a living example of someone who has taken advantage of disruptive innovation in higher education. I am a forty year old single mother who has a full time career. If not for the online degree program at Abilene Christian University, I would have never completed even one course towards a master’s degree, little alone having achieved the degree in two years. Furthermore, if it were not for disruptive innovation and the online degree program at Texas Tech University, I would never have even considered seeking a Doctorate degree, but because of it, last week I was accepted into their online Doctorate program.

Disruptive innovation comes about when a company and in this case institution not only recognizes a need for something new and different that will appeal to those previously excluded, but is willing and creative enough to find a solution to the problem. In the instance of higher education, it was finally accepted that people like me were never going any further with their education without a solution that offered greater flexibility and was less expensive (although only slightly). I would never have been able to go sit in a classroom weekly for two years. The online program was my solution for continuing education.

Sustaining innovation, according to Christensen, Horn, Caldera and Soares (2011) is more focused on breakthrough technologies or incremental product performance improvements in order to make better products that sell for bigger profits. These changes occur along an existing trajectory. The two are different in that disruptive innovation actually takes the place of the existing product making it more convenient, affordable, etc. where sustaining innovation continues to improve on an existing product. In higher education, colleges and universities can improve amenities they offer students, bring in renowned faculty, offer a greater variety of majors – all things that improve the existing product. Whereas online learning, a disruptive innovation renders these things fairly unimportant and offers flexibility and cost effectiveness, appealing to a completely different audience.

In working in higher education, I have found change is not something that is easily come by. Although I do work in student affairs for a university that is very interested in competing with other traditional universities, therefore making improvements to residence halls, the Activity Center, dining halls and the Student Union. With all of this change happening to structures on campus, programming efforts have remained fairly consistent throughout the last ten years.

I am responsible for alcohol and other drug education for the entire campus. All of the alcohol and other drug programming continuing education, programming ideas offered by non-profit organizations and those that are for-profit, and programming efforts put forth by most institutions of higher education have centered around convincing students of the dangers of drinking and driving, binge drinking and underage drinking. This market has been driven by sustaining innovations. We have gone from Mothers Against Drunk Drivers very basic wrecked car displays to high tech drunk driving simulation machines. Several companies have based their entire business model on aiding teachers in convincing students of the negative impact of alcohol and drugs.

Studies are beginning to surface that show college students feel the benefits they get from drinking alcohol are worth the risk. These benefits being increased social confidence and better conversational abilities to name two. The authors of these studies are suggesting our approach to alcohol and drug prevention is all wrong. That instead of using scare tactics, we should be helping our students with their social and conversation skills thus eliminating the need for alcohol in social situations. I believe these studies will create disruptive innovation in alcohol and drug education products and curriculum.

Although it’s a very small innovation in a very small corner of university life, it could make large differences in the number of lives lost and students injured because of the use of alcohol. I am personally ready to change the way I program. While this information is new, I am already creating a proposal to change the way we have been educating our students for years. I am hoping this class will give me tools to aide in this quest.

Christensen, C. M., Horn, M. B., Caldera, L., & Soares, L. (2011). Disrupting college: How disruptive innovation can deliver quality and affordability to postsecondary education. Center for American Progress & Innosight Institute.