Disruption Detectors: What Great Leaders Do
Why Smart CEOs Miss Obvious Threats
Steve Ballmer had everything. In 2007, Microsoft's CEO had unlimited resources, brilliant advisors, and access to the best market research money could buy. Yet he confidently dismissed the iPhone, claiming it would fail without a keyboard.
Ironically, Microsoft's push toward tablets with digital pens had helped inspire Steve Jobs to develop the iPhone - yet Ballmer was blind to the very innovation his company had influenced.
The Pattern of Disruption
traditional retail’s digital business
Many established retailers dismissed e-commerce as a niche market for years. When COVID-19 hit in 2020, companies like J.C. Penney and Neiman Marcus filed for bankruptcy, while others scrambled to build online capabilities they should have developed a decade earlier. Meanwhile, companies like Target and Walmart, which had invested in digital transformation, saw massive growth.
traditional banking vs. fintech
Major banks dismissed early fintech companies like Venmo and Cash App as "toys for millennials." By 2023, these "toys" were processing hundreds of billions in transactions. Banks that ignored the shift toward mobile-first, instant payments found themselves playing catch-up while losing young customers to entirely new financial ecosystems.
disney’s streaming awakening
Disney initially dismissed Netflix as a threat, licensing content to them for years. It wasn't until 2019 that Disney launched Disney+ and realised they'd been feeding their biggest competitor. They had to spend billions to build streaming infrastructure and buy back content rights they'd sold cheaply.
legacy automakers vs. tesla
For years, GM, Ford, and others dismissed Tesla as a niche luxury brand that would never scale. Tesla is now worth more than most traditional automakers combined, forcing the entire industry into expensive EV transitions they should have started a decade earlier.
Perhaps these weren't failures of intelligence. They were failures of structure. While companies invest heavily in skillset and mindset development, structure—the invisible thread holding organisations together—gets overlooked. Each organisation had built systems that filtered out inconvenient truths.
How does a failure in structure manifest? It generates 'organisational blindness'. Here are four common examples you might encounter:
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The problem: Leaders surround themselves with people who think alike. Dissenting voices get filtered out.
The data: McKinsey research shows that companies actively soliciting dissent and varied input demonstrate greater resilience and agility. Those who fail to challenge consensus leave themselves vulnerable to disruption.
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The problem: Past wins create false confidence about future performance. Leaders mistake luck for skill.
The data: Harvard Business School's Donald Sull found that successful companies often "fail not despite their success, but because of it." Internal rigidity and misplaced confidence become barriers to adaptation.
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The problem: Bad news gets softened as it travels up the hierarchy. Leaders receive sanitised versions of reality.
The data: Research involving 40 quarterly surveys of senior finance executives found that CFOs systematically underestimate the level of uncertainty. Realised market returns fell within their predicted "80% confidence intervals" only 36% of the time, showing severe miscalibration and overconfidence in their information and assessments.
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The problem: Quarterly targets and immediate crises consume leadership attention. Strategic threats get ignored.
The data: A Boston Consulting Group study found that 70% of digital transformation initiatives fail to meet their objectives. Short-term pressures, unclear strategy, and lack of long-term vision are the primary culprits.
Why should you care?
With economic uncertainty, supply chain disruptions, and rapid technological change, the margin for error has never been smaller. Companies that miss signals today don't get second chances—they get acquired or disappear.
But what’s the upside of getting it right?
Amazon’s Customer Obsession
While others focused on quarterly profits, Amazon built systems to surface customer feedback and long-term signals.
Result: $386 billion in revenue (2021) and market dominance across multiple sectors.
MICROSOFT’S CLOUD PIVOT
Under Satya Nadella, Microsoft built feedback loops that revealed the shift to cloud computing early. They pivoted from Windows-centric to cloud-first.
Result: Stock price increased 10x from 2014 to 2024.
APPLE’S DESIGN SYSTEMS
Jobs built decision-making processes that elevated design and user experience over technical specs.
Result: Became the world's most valuable company.
NETFLIX DATA-DRIVEN DECISIONS
While Blockbuster relied on intuition, Netflix built systems to capture viewing data and predict customer behaviour.
Result: 230+ million subscribers and $31 billion revenue (2023).
So, how do you build these systems that surface inconvenient truths?
An Action Plan
Regardless of your business size, these principles can apply - even if you're just implementing them within your team.
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This is the simplest concept to understand, but the hardest to make stick as a corporate habit. Create a meeting cadence that works - from annual planning to daily check-ins. Quarterly business reviews are essential for stepping back and asking: What did we commit to? What did we actually deliver? Where are we headed next? What's blocking our progress?
Use these regular touch points to review not just results, but the decisions made throughout the quarter and whether those decisions moved closer or not to the goal. Were the choices made aligned with the goals? Why were they made?
Remember, your success 60-90 days from now depends on the decisions being made today. The power of rhythms lies in their ability to transform ambition into execution, making progress inevitable rather than accidental.
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Most organisations centralise decisions at the top, requiring multiple approvals and sign-offs before anything moves forward. This approach consistently slows down decision-making and kills agility when new information emerges.
Instead, give decision-making authority to the people closest to the customers, data, and day-to-day operations. They have the best information and can respond fastest to changes.
This requires trust and frameworks. If you can't trust your people to make good decisions, hire different people. But more importantly, give them clear boundaries to operate within - like spending limits, quality standards, or strategic guidelines.
The goal is speed and accuracy, not control.
Amazon: Gives teams authority to make "two-way door" decisions (reversible ones) without escalation, while "one-way door" decisions require approval.
Spotify: Uses small autonomous squads with defined missions and spending authority for experimentation.
Google: The famous "20% time" allowed engineers to spend company time on personal projects without approval (led to Gmail, Google News).
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Metrics are backward-looking - they tell you what happened, not what's coming. Feedback, on the other hand, helps you shape the future. Together, they give you a complete picture of what needs to happen next. Feedback comes from multiple sources: direct customer input, commissioned studies, research departments, trusted advisors close to customers or industry trendsetters. The key is acting on these signals as they arrive, not cherry-picking information that confirms what you already believe.
Amazon's customer obsession and Microsoft's cloud pivot demonstrate how powerful customer feedback can be when properly systematised.
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Creating an environment where people can speak up without fear of retribution is invaluable. Being able to digest, discuss, and debate ideas, directions, and setbacks openly with your team helps shape future direction while ensuring everyone has their say. This keeps social dynamics focused on solving problems, rather than deferring to HiPPOs (highest-paid person's opinion). Everyone can align behind decisions because they had genuine input. As one of Amazon's leadership principles outlines, which requires backbone—the courage to disagree and commit, even when advocating for an opposing solution.
Google’s Project Aristotle proved that team effectiveness came down to the level of psychological safety within an environment. If your people are too scared to speak up, I can assure you, you’ve got an echo chamber on your hands.
As a leader, your career depends on spotting these signals. The executives who saw Netflix coming kept their jobs. Those who didn't become cautionary tales.
Start with Step 1 this quarter. You can establish rhythms and begin surfacing blind spots within 90 days.
Don't wait for your own iPhone moment. Start building these systems today, before your competition forces you to.
Steve Ballmer had all the information he needed. He just didn't have the systems to hear it.
The question isn't whether disruption is coming to your industry. It's whether you'll hear it approaching.
Meet Rose, Strategy Consultant
Want to see if your organisation is built for success? I help leaders establish new structures and spot hidden opportunities. Let's have a pragmatic chat about your situation.
