Disruptive technologies: Advances that will transform life, business, and the global economy

byJames Manyika, Michael Chui, Jacques Bughin, Richard Dobbs, Peter Bisson, and Alex Marrs

http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/business_technology/disruptive_technologies

PART 1: Often the drivers of organic growth are external forces that dramatically change the overall context in which we compete. Accordingly, I believe it is essential for leaders to continually understand how “something new” could significantly impact your market and business. Remember our definition of innovation—“bringing something NEW
into USE”. The next few postings will discuss some of these trends starting with how they are defined:

Disruptive technologies: Advances that will transform life, business, and the global economy, a report from the McKinsey Global Institute, cuts through the noise and identifies 12 technologies that could drive truly massive economic transformations and disruptions in the coming years… 

…Business leaders should keep their organizational strategies updated in the face of continually evolving technologies, ensure that their organizations continue to look ahead, and use technologies to improve internal performance. Disruptive technologies can change the game for businesses, creating entirely new products and services, as well as shifting pools of value between producers or from producers to consumers… 

IDENTIFYING THE TECHNOLOGIES THAT MATTER The noise about the next big thing can make it difficult to identify which technologies truly matter. (Here the criteria they used):

• The technology is rapidly advancing or experiencing breakthroughs. Disruptive technologies typically demonstrate a rapid rate of change in capabilities in terms of price/performance relative to substitutes and alternative approaches, or they experience breakthroughs that drive accelerated rates of change or discontinuous capability improvements.
• The potential scope of impact is broad. To be economically disruptive, a technology must have broad reach—touching companies and industries and affecting (or giving rise to) a wide range of machines, products, or services
• Significant economic value could be affected. An economically disruptive technology must have the potential to create massive economic impact.
• Economic impact is potentially disruptive. Technologies that matter have the potential to dramatically change the status quo. They can transform how people live and work, create new opportunities or shift surplus for businesses, and drive growth or change comparative advantage for nations.