Angel 's Key Ideas from Big Bang Disruption
by Larry Downes, Paul Nunes

Disruptors should start niche, perfect the model, identify barriers incumbents face, then rapidly scale up. They should take advantage of incumbents' paralyzed denial to establish market dominance quickly before responses come.

• Incumbents struggle to respond quickly to big bang disruptors due to structures like cost focus, process rigor, and conventions.
• Their operations excel at slow, linear innovation but falter amid exponential digital change.

• Incumbents must disrupt their own business models through careful but rapid pivots.
• Leverage existing strengths like resources, while freeing creative teams from constraints.
• Iteratively test multiple small-scale projects.

• Regulators struggle with big bang disruption.
• Flexible policies sustain exponential innovation while limiting harm.
• Outdated regulations hinder progress and get outpaced by change.
• Policymakers must adapt too.

In fields prone to big bang disruption, pursue careers resilient to sudden industry change. Seek transferable skills, creative roles, emotional intelligence and abstract expertise less vulnerable to disruption.

Cultivating beginner’s mind, running fast experiments, collaborating beyond silos, and learning to disrupt yourself are essential.

In exponential times, serial reinvention is required to survive and stay relevant.