thank you so much indeed um first things
first I am honoured flattered excited as
well as a little petrified and nervous
about being here today I’m going to be
talking about disrupting disruption why
me I wrote a book as Christine said and
that book challenged convention it just
we said let’s look at the recruitment
process from a marketing process this
had never been done before so I have a
history of actually challenging
convention so I want you to think about
disruption I want you to question it I
want you to think are we using the right
words so I looked up the different
definition of disruption the definition
of disruption is simple it says to
prevent a process a system and activity
from taking place in its use your
fashion I don’t think when it comes to
the business side we mean that do we
because that’s a negative disruption in
business we’ve managed to turn this
around with managed to use disruption to
be a positive thing because the business
definition of disruption seems to be the
change of an industry for the better be
it’s more effective efficient progress
so my first question to you has to be
are we just using disruption as another
word for innovation creativity you know
and it goes on I think a good example
could be when we look at this is Dell
now when I tell you this example you
will think how dull how normal how
everyday but this is why disruption can
be so fantastic because Dell one day
said before anybody else said it we sell
computers let’s sell them online nobody
else had done that fantastic
now with
the business definition we have two
parts we have industry changing and we
have a positive outcome so that’s what
we’ve got to look for what if we’re
I’m gonna take you on a little journey a
timeline I’m going to start in 1973 to
look at disruption and ask you about
what you think as we go through 1973 I
was seven years old and I did my
homework like most of us using the
electric light but that year two days
per week I was using candle light now
one would say or ask why was I using
candle light this was because we had
something called the winter of
discontent in the United Kingdom this
was when the utility companies were on
strike the rubbish men were on strike
everything was on strike in fact we were
pretty poor it was awful and we begged
the IMF the International Monetary Fund
for money
we also begged the EU to join and we had
a referendum and we joined the EU I
think my political colours are coming
out but so though for me this was a
personal disruption but of course it was
a national disruption too because so
many things were happening so again I
don’t think that’s what we mean by
disruption so what do we mean 1935 to
1945 this is an interesting time a
little bit of the jiggery-pokery going
on in Europe at the time our friends
over the channel I’m being in England as
opposed to being here in edek at the
moment at Lille some of the friends over
in in over there on the other side of
the channel they were coming over a
little bit uninvited let’s say that way
and they had come in their planes and
flying over and saying hi hi we kind of
felt we should go and greet them and so
what we did is we developed a thing
called radar and so we popped up and
when they were coming over we thought oh
well now we can go and say hello and
meet them so we went to MIT met met them
and went hello
and off we pop radar question can you
imagine life without radar
can you imagine air travel now it just
wouldn’t exist but is this disruption in
terms of what we mean by business
disruption I don’t think so I think this
is innovation I think this is necessity
being the mother of invention okay
at the same time there was a gentleman
by the name of Schumpeter in 1942 he
came up with this lovely Fiat theory the
Gale of destruction
here’s a quick definition I’m not going
to read it but the gale of destruction
is quite interesting because he
basically says in this that when one new
era starts the old one is destroyed so
if you take an example the Bronze Age
moving to the Iron Age yes the Bronze
Age completely disappeared and was
destroyed and it wasn’t because we ran
out of bronze it was very simply we had
a new raw material and that’s kind of
what he was saying it’s a little like
the potential new thing in terms of the
digital printer a lovely little example
happened where NASA realized they didn’t
have this socket wrench or as I would
say a spanner and so what they had to do
is they had to send a digital file up to
the space station which they then
printed out the spanner
that’s why factored stuff you know
that’s gonna be a whole work new way of
getting your goods to the to the end to
the market potentially okay so Bitcoin
we all know Bitcoin what do we think of
Bitcoin anybody there’s Bitcoin a
currency to digital currency isn’t it
some people saying yes others being shy
and not saying a thing so I’ll carry on
Bitcoin I find quite interesting because
they say it’s a digital currency yet
when I looked last I had to use pounds
euros yen dollars to buy BIC
I then couldn’t purchase anything with
this Bitcoin I can only buy it as an
investment so if we think of the
definition of the innovative disruption
model you have the low end incumbent
foothold
now all that means is you’re getting the
market which the companies have not
actually been looking after because
they’ve been going after the parts of
the market which are their profit by
their big profit margin is so that’s a
lower incumbent foothold market now
Bitcoin doesn’t do that does it and
let’s go on first stage further the
other end of it is the new market as
Bitcoin produced a new market to me now
it hasn’t what it’s done is it’s just a
commodity straight forward commodity
it’s as old as the hills it’s like
silver and gold in fact it’s as old as
the land we walk on right now so Bitcoin
no uber who thinks ubers a disrupter
anybody has a few hands go up in the air
um I’ll ask the question why what does
Bitcoin do it’s like a goober do what
does it Hoover do uber is a taxi company
effectively it’s a taxi company they
produced an app where you can order your
taxi it’ll come and pick you up it’ll
tell you where you are it will give you
the location where it will give you the
driver the route to go there you’ll then
jump in the cat camp you’ll guess it
you’ll get to your destination you’ll
get out and you’ll pay all on this app
think about it has that changed the
industry no has that changed you know
has it changed for the better
potentially it’s changed for the better
but it hasn’t changed an industry it’s
still a taxi company it’s still getting
you from A to B in a very traditional
fashion it hasn’t fundamentally changed
anything and that’s what I find
interesting about this when we look at
disruptors by the way the HBR do
actually agree with me on this one point
if they don’t agree with me on other
things but that’s another story
so ubers not so what is a disruptor my
mind it’s something like this
first of July in 1979 the parents can
Canada day that isn’t it or something
like that as well but in 1979 of the 1st
of July a product was launched a
production was launched which enabled
people to ignore everybody around them
and that product was the Sony Walkman
you know why am I saying is this is a
disruptor this is a disruptor because
it’s a new market because they were
taking music and making it portable and
what they didn’t know at the time and
what the hi-fi manufacturers didn’t know
at the time was their market was being
eroded they could not foresee what was
about to happen with the advent of the
telephone you know with Apple Samsung
and Google who by the way I don’t think
are disruptors in their markets they’re
just following your on from what the
Sony Walkman did because instead of the
magnetic tape what they’re doing is
they’ve got a little box you carry
around and it has a solid-state drive by
the way solid-state drivers pretty old
too is developed in the 1960s and that
was when we went from the valve amp to
the electrical component oh by the way
on your phone that little solid-state
there’s a receiver for you to be online
receiver that’s called a wireless in the
1940s nothing new there then so the Sony
Walkman however changed the way we
socially behave in fact you’ve seen this
as well haven’t you you’ve seen it where
an individual is on the tube the Metro
the subway and I’ve got their headphones
on haven’t they they’ve got these
headphones on it’s like that other and
they think they can sing don’t they and
you hear it anything oh God and you know
so it goes something like this
well I haven’t seen a face around town a
while so agree did you with a knowing
smile but I saw that girl upon your arms
on your heart with the fatal chumps they
so mad
what with the français hey George let’s
hit the town and in return all you could
say was hi George meet my fiancee now I
won’t inflict any more of the wham young
guns on you but that’s what you hear all
the time so yes it’s made a lasting
legacy it’s kind of there and we’re
going to be keeping it for a long time
1991 I think this is my favorite I’ve
got good enough here this is the
introduction of the lithium-ion
rechargeable rocking-chair technology
battery sounds fun there’s no but of
course ladies and gentlemen could you
imagine life without your lithium iron
rocking chair technology battery what
would you not have you would not have
your phone you would not have your
tablet you would not have your laptop
you would not have your Wi-Fi you would
not have your social network in fact you
wouldn’t have communication imagine it
could anybody imagine that now a few of
us like myself actually can’t imagine
this because I’m old enough one of the
virtues of being old but what we used to
do in those days would we just used to
turn up to meetings on time little dig
there I apologise couldn’t resist now
one of the things which I thought was
interesting about this is the person who
actually was leading the research was a
guy called John Goodenough
John Goodenough do you think he was good
enough cuz I don’t I think he was bloody
brilliant I mean let’s face it all the
things we could not have done and he’s
now enabled us to do absolutely superb
ok going right up to date 2018 I’m going
to talk to you about a company which has
not launched yet it’s a company which I
believe kind of goes against
the traditional view of disruption
because it’s actually aiming at the top
end of the market place as opposed to
the low end of the market place the DRM
it stands for the disruptor recruitment
model this is a model which is looking
at changing the way MSC s and MBAs are
recruited it’s going to get rid of the
parasitic elements of the recruitment
process eg the headhunter and the
recruitment agent because if you think
about it how many companies produce a
product which they then don’t sell
places like edek Business School what do
they do they produce this fantastic
product you okay and that product is
going out there and being snapped up by
these fantastic large companies
everything from Apple to L’Oreal to I’ll
shout it whatever and an account getting
paid for it Wow would it be lovely if
there’s a model where
edek and the other business schools
accredited business schools actually got
the money for that now this particular
model actually is and will enable that
to happen I can’t say any more of it
about at the moment because I’ve signed
an end NDA for that and it’s also my own
company and you’ll hear about it much
more later now to sum up disruption
disrupting disruption does disruption
exist one could argue or I will argue
now it doesn’t it doesn’t exist because
it’s continuous it happened today it
happens yesterday and it’s going to
carry on going and going now the
question I think which is more important
and after doing the research about this
talk I feel is the question we need to
think about when we need to answer is
the following and that is would there be
a place for disruptors if the current
big brands actually listened to
and you and you oh and me and everybody
I have my opinions of this I’m not gonna
give you the answer but I want you to
think about that because I think that’s
the bigger question so the thing I will
share with you it’s a little motto I had
from when I was a child and it was
because some my father always used to
tell me how I had to study and I just
said to him being a smart little kid I
said to him just because something’s
done in the particular way doesn’t mean
it’s good all right um but I stand by
that motto I really do and I think
that’s something we should all do and we
should challenge convention challenge
tradition ultimately challenge the way
things are done by the way a fantastic
edek phrase go out there just be you
Christine make an impact thank you very
much indeed yes [Applause]
first I am honoured flattered excited as
well as a little petrified and nervous
about being here today I’m going to be
talking about disrupting disruption why
me I wrote a book as Christine said and
that book challenged convention it just
we said let’s look at the recruitment
process from a marketing process this
had never been done before so I have a
history of actually challenging
convention so I want you to think about
disruption I want you to question it I
want you to think are we using the right
words so I looked up the different
definition of disruption the definition
of disruption is simple it says to
prevent a process a system and activity
from taking place in its use your
fashion I don’t think when it comes to
the business side we mean that do we
because that’s a negative disruption in
business we’ve managed to turn this
around with managed to use disruption to
be a positive thing because the business
definition of disruption seems to be the
change of an industry for the better be
it’s more effective efficient progress
so my first question to you has to be
are we just using disruption as another
word for innovation creativity you know
and it goes on I think a good example
could be when we look at this is Dell
now when I tell you this example you
will think how dull how normal how
everyday but this is why disruption can
be so fantastic because Dell one day
said before anybody else said it we sell
computers let’s sell them online nobody
else had done that fantastic
now with
the business definition we have two
parts we have industry changing and we
have a positive outcome so that’s what
we’ve got to look for what if we’re
I’m gonna take you on a little journey a
timeline I’m going to start in 1973 to
look at disruption and ask you about
what you think as we go through 1973 I
was seven years old and I did my
homework like most of us using the
electric light but that year two days
per week I was using candle light now
one would say or ask why was I using
candle light this was because we had
something called the winter of
discontent in the United Kingdom this
was when the utility companies were on
strike the rubbish men were on strike
everything was on strike in fact we were
pretty poor it was awful and we begged
the IMF the International Monetary Fund
for money
we also begged the EU to join and we had
a referendum and we joined the EU I
think my political colours are coming
out but so though for me this was a
personal disruption but of course it was
a national disruption too because so
many things were happening so again I
don’t think that’s what we mean by
disruption so what do we mean 1935 to
1945 this is an interesting time a
little bit of the jiggery-pokery going
on in Europe at the time our friends
over the channel I’m being in England as
opposed to being here in edek at the
moment at Lille some of the friends over
in in over there on the other side of
the channel they were coming over a
little bit uninvited let’s say that way
and they had come in their planes and
flying over and saying hi hi we kind of
felt we should go and greet them and so
what we did is we developed a thing
called radar and so we popped up and
when they were coming over we thought oh
well now we can go and say hello and
meet them so we went to MIT met met them
and went hello
and off we pop radar question can you
imagine life without radar
can you imagine air travel now it just
wouldn’t exist but is this disruption in
terms of what we mean by business
disruption I don’t think so I think this
is innovation I think this is necessity
being the mother of invention okay
at the same time there was a gentleman
by the name of Schumpeter in 1942 he
came up with this lovely Fiat theory the
Gale of destruction
here’s a quick definition I’m not going
to read it but the gale of destruction
is quite interesting because he
basically says in this that when one new
era starts the old one is destroyed so
if you take an example the Bronze Age
moving to the Iron Age yes the Bronze
Age completely disappeared and was
destroyed and it wasn’t because we ran
out of bronze it was very simply we had
a new raw material and that’s kind of
what he was saying it’s a little like
the potential new thing in terms of the
digital printer a lovely little example
happened where NASA realized they didn’t
have this socket wrench or as I would
say a spanner and so what they had to do
is they had to send a digital file up to
the space station which they then
printed out the spanner
that’s why factored stuff you know
that’s gonna be a whole work new way of
getting your goods to the to the end to
the market potentially okay so Bitcoin
we all know Bitcoin what do we think of
Bitcoin anybody there’s Bitcoin a
currency to digital currency isn’t it
some people saying yes others being shy
and not saying a thing so I’ll carry on
Bitcoin I find quite interesting because
they say it’s a digital currency yet
when I looked last I had to use pounds
euros yen dollars to buy BIC
I then couldn’t purchase anything with
this Bitcoin I can only buy it as an
investment so if we think of the
definition of the innovative disruption
model you have the low end incumbent
foothold
now all that means is you’re getting the
market which the companies have not
actually been looking after because
they’ve been going after the parts of
the market which are their profit by
their big profit margin is so that’s a
lower incumbent foothold market now
Bitcoin doesn’t do that does it and
let’s go on first stage further the
other end of it is the new market as
Bitcoin produced a new market to me now
it hasn’t what it’s done is it’s just a
commodity straight forward commodity
it’s as old as the hills it’s like
silver and gold in fact it’s as old as
the land we walk on right now so Bitcoin
no uber who thinks ubers a disrupter
anybody has a few hands go up in the air
um I’ll ask the question why what does
Bitcoin do it’s like a goober do what
does it Hoover do uber is a taxi company
effectively it’s a taxi company they
produced an app where you can order your
taxi it’ll come and pick you up it’ll
tell you where you are it will give you
the location where it will give you the
driver the route to go there you’ll then
jump in the cat camp you’ll guess it
you’ll get to your destination you’ll
get out and you’ll pay all on this app
think about it has that changed the
industry no has that changed you know
has it changed for the better
potentially it’s changed for the better
but it hasn’t changed an industry it’s
still a taxi company it’s still getting
you from A to B in a very traditional
fashion it hasn’t fundamentally changed
anything and that’s what I find
interesting about this when we look at
disruptors by the way the HBR do
actually agree with me on this one point
if they don’t agree with me on other
things but that’s another story
so ubers not so what is a disruptor my
mind it’s something like this
first of July in 1979 the parents can
Canada day that isn’t it or something
like that as well but in 1979 of the 1st
of July a product was launched a
production was launched which enabled
people to ignore everybody around them
and that product was the Sony Walkman
you know why am I saying is this is a
disruptor this is a disruptor because
it’s a new market because they were
taking music and making it portable and
what they didn’t know at the time and
what the hi-fi manufacturers didn’t know
at the time was their market was being
eroded they could not foresee what was
about to happen with the advent of the
telephone you know with Apple Samsung
and Google who by the way I don’t think
are disruptors in their markets they’re
just following your on from what the
Sony Walkman did because instead of the
magnetic tape what they’re doing is
they’ve got a little box you carry
around and it has a solid-state drive by
the way solid-state drivers pretty old
too is developed in the 1960s and that
was when we went from the valve amp to
the electrical component oh by the way
on your phone that little solid-state
there’s a receiver for you to be online
receiver that’s called a wireless in the
1940s nothing new there then so the Sony
Walkman however changed the way we
socially behave in fact you’ve seen this
as well haven’t you you’ve seen it where
an individual is on the tube the Metro
the subway and I’ve got their headphones
on haven’t they they’ve got these
headphones on it’s like that other and
they think they can sing don’t they and
you hear it anything oh God and you know
so it goes something like this
well I haven’t seen a face around town a
while so agree did you with a knowing
smile but I saw that girl upon your arms
on your heart with the fatal chumps they
so mad
what with the français hey George let’s
hit the town and in return all you could
say was hi George meet my fiancee now I
won’t inflict any more of the wham young
guns on you but that’s what you hear all
the time so yes it’s made a lasting
legacy it’s kind of there and we’re
going to be keeping it for a long time
1991 I think this is my favorite I’ve
got good enough here this is the
introduction of the lithium-ion
rechargeable rocking-chair technology
battery sounds fun there’s no but of
course ladies and gentlemen could you
imagine life without your lithium iron
rocking chair technology battery what
would you not have you would not have
your phone you would not have your
tablet you would not have your laptop
you would not have your Wi-Fi you would
not have your social network in fact you
wouldn’t have communication imagine it
could anybody imagine that now a few of
us like myself actually can’t imagine
this because I’m old enough one of the
virtues of being old but what we used to
do in those days would we just used to
turn up to meetings on time little dig
there I apologise couldn’t resist now
one of the things which I thought was
interesting about this is the person who
actually was leading the research was a
guy called John Goodenough
John Goodenough do you think he was good
enough cuz I don’t I think he was bloody
brilliant I mean let’s face it all the
things we could not have done and he’s
now enabled us to do absolutely superb
ok going right up to date 2018 I’m going
to talk to you about a company which has
not launched yet it’s a company which I
believe kind of goes against
the traditional view of disruption
because it’s actually aiming at the top
end of the market place as opposed to
the low end of the market place the DRM
it stands for the disruptor recruitment
model this is a model which is looking
at changing the way MSC s and MBAs are
recruited it’s going to get rid of the
parasitic elements of the recruitment
process eg the headhunter and the
recruitment agent because if you think
about it how many companies produce a
product which they then don’t sell
places like edek Business School what do
they do they produce this fantastic
product you okay and that product is
going out there and being snapped up by
these fantastic large companies
everything from Apple to L’Oreal to I’ll
shout it whatever and an account getting
paid for it Wow would it be lovely if
there’s a model where
edek and the other business schools
accredited business schools actually got
the money for that now this particular
model actually is and will enable that
to happen I can’t say any more of it
about at the moment because I’ve signed
an end NDA for that and it’s also my own
company and you’ll hear about it much
more later now to sum up disruption
disrupting disruption does disruption
exist one could argue or I will argue
now it doesn’t it doesn’t exist because
it’s continuous it happened today it
happens yesterday and it’s going to
carry on going and going now the
question I think which is more important
and after doing the research about this
talk I feel is the question we need to
think about when we need to answer is
the following and that is would there be
a place for disruptors if the current
big brands actually listened to
and you and you oh and me and everybody
I have my opinions of this I’m not gonna
give you the answer but I want you to
think about that because I think that’s
the bigger question so the thing I will
share with you it’s a little motto I had
from when I was a child and it was
because some my father always used to
tell me how I had to study and I just
said to him being a smart little kid I
said to him just because something’s
done in the particular way doesn’t mean
it’s good all right um but I stand by
that motto I really do and I think
that’s something we should all do and we
should challenge convention challenge
tradition ultimately challenge the way
things are done by the way a fantastic
edek phrase go out there just be you
Christine make an impact thank you very
much indeed yes [Applause]
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