Aren’t breakthrough innovation and disruptive innovation the same thing? It’s a common question when building innovation strategy. After all, the car, the telephone, the smartphone, the electric car, the solar panel, weren’t these all breakthroughs that were also disruptive? In a sense, yes. But it’s the context of the innovation that’s important.
What Is Breakthrough Innovation?
Breakthrough innovation is an innovation from inside a company that pushes something to the next level. It opens the company to new markets and changes the way customers interact with the market or the industry.
Zipcar is a good example of breakthrough innovation. At its roots, Zipcar operates like any other car rental company. You book a car for a set amount of time and you return the car after you’re done. The breakthrough was to remove the centralized rental location and by placing Zipcars in neighborhoods and high-traffic areas, renting them via apps and websites, making car rental easier and more accessible.
At the same time, Zipcar hasn’t caused the collapse of “traditional” car rental companies. Zipcar would be disruptive if Hertz, Enterprise, and other car rental agencies ceased to exist as they currently stand as a direct result of Zipcar’s innovation. Zipcar has shaken up the car rental model, but rental car companies as we know them aren’t going anywhere.
What Is Disruptive Innovation?
Disruptive innovation, on the other hand, topples traditional models and replaces them with new ones. Perhaps the most popular example of this is Netflix. At first, they presented a breakthrough innovation by introducing a subscription model that delivered DVDs to people through the mail. But then they disrupted the entire home entertainment industry by introducing streaming services and becoming a content producer themselves. That shut down the Blockbusters and Hollywood Videos of the world and changed how Hollywood produces and sells TV and movies.
If you want to hear from Clayton Christensen about disruptive innovation, watch this video:
