Dr. Guenther Dobrauz-Saldapenna is a Partner at venture capital house exelixis capital Ltd. and publishes and advises via www.dobrauz.com.
In today’s ever-evolving landscape of innovation, the continuous arrival of exponential technologies is meeting the force of Big Bang Disruption. At the same time, circularity is harmonizing with decentralization. I believe that these movements and models together create profound implications for the future of business and innovation. In this article, I will outline these components and how they can ultimately come together to drive business growth and improve lives.
Disruptive Innovation On Steroids
The annals of innovation have seen several models attempting to dissect the dynamics of technological progress, such as Everett Rogers’ pioneering work on the Diffusion of Innovations and Clayton Christensen’s theory of Disruptive Innovation. However, the advent of exponential technologies and the era of Big Bang Disruption have rewritten the rulebook.
Coined by futurist Ray Kurzweil, exponential technologies encompass rapidly advancing technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), nanotechnology and many others, which are doubling in capability and performance at an exponential pace. Gordon Moore’s observation of this doubling phenomenon, now known as Moore’s Law, conceptually set the stage for this era of rapid growth.
Big-Bang Disruption, coined by Larry Downes and Paul Nunes, represents a shift from incremental to radical innovation, where products and services enter the market rapidly and often simultaneously, displacing entire established solutions overnight. The advent of the internet saw this model in action, revolutionizing industries and challenging existing business paradigms—though it still took years to unfold because technology had to be invented, distributed and adopted, as was the case for Amazon, eBay and later Uber and Airbnb. Unlike traditional, incremental innovation, Big-Bang Disruption can swiftly propel change, often rendering existing solutions obsolete overnight.
Circularity: The Sustainability Anthem
Circularity is a model that aligns innovation with sustainability, advocating for resources to be continuously reused, repaired, refurbished and recycled. It mirrors the efficient cycles of nature, promoting both sustainability and economic growth.
Unlike the current linear “take-make-waste” model, circularity is meant to be an evergreen approach with little to no waste. Just like nature, where every leaf falls off a tree, and everybody that passes away becomes part of the new cycle, businesses can follow the same principles with everything they have and use. There are many ways organizations can do this, but I like the cradle-to-cradle approach, where biological and technological cycles are used to drive all products (and, ultimately, all services) toward circularity.
Realizing the paradigm of integrating biological and technological cycles in product innovation requires an understanding of biological systems and their functional efficiencies. For instance, emulating the hierarchical structure of bones in the design of advanced composite materials could enhance product strength and durability. Biomimetic application extends to renewable energy solutions—for instance, taking the process of photosynthesis as inspiration for the development of highly efficient solar energy-harvesting mechanisms. By extrapolating principles from organic ecosystems, circular economy models can be adopted to foster sustainable product life cycles akin to natural biological cycles. This approach can engender a symbiosis of biological inspiration and technological prowess that propels transformative advancements in sustainable engineering.
Decentralization: The Rising Chorus Of Empowerment
The Decentralization Movement represents a paradigm shift in governance and technology, aiming to distribute power and control away from central authorities. Blockchain, a decentralized ledger technology that has contributed greatly to the movement toward decentralized currencies and transactions, is a prominent example.
This is just the beginning. When I was a kid, there was no internet, and my future was to work for a big corporation. The children of today won’t have to spend hours commuting to office buildings, as they will be able to work from almost anywhere thanks to interconnected, decentralized platforms and systems.
Putting It All Together
By combining decentralization and circularity with exponential technologies and Big Bang Disruption, businesses can minimize waste and maximize resource efficiency. Today’s technologies can reshape industries and societal norms at incredible speed, especially when two or more come together.
Embarking on a journey toward integrating circularity and decentralization necessitates a dual-pronged approach. Firstly, I recommend that firms meticulously assess their product life cycles. Concurrently, fostering a decentralized organizational structure entails empowering your local units with decision-making autonomy, aligning with a broader strategic vision while encouraging rapid adaptation to the dynamic market landscape.
When embracing exponential technologies and anticipating the waves of Big Bang Disruption, it’s important to cultivate a culture of constant exploration and innovation. When allocating resources toward research and development, consider placing significant emphasis on emerging technological domains such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and quantum computing. This proactive orientation can allow your business to discern disruptive patterns, thus enabling you to pivot swiftly and strategically so that you can chart a trajectory of resilience and sustained relevance in the face of disruptive upheavals.
Regulatory Changes
Will regulation be necessary? Absolutely, and this is already on its way, helping to co-create the new dominant design(s). When it comes to Big Bang Disruption and rapid technological advancements, regulatory agility and adaptability are critical.
Regulatory sandboxes have gained traction in multiple countries, providing controlled environments for innovators to test new technologies without full compliance with existing regulations. In the EU, the Innovation Hub by the European Banking Authority serves as a platform for innovative financial services. The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) also has a Project Catalyst, which focuses on consumer-friendly innovation. Singapore has the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Regulatory Sandbox, fostering a conducive environment for fintech experimentation.
The same is true for regulations around circularity; for instance, the European Commission adopted the new circular economy action plan (CEAP) in March 2020. Zurich is also writing the circular economy into its constitution, seeking to create a framework for considerate treatment of resources, materials and goods as well as the closing of materials loops.
Striking The Final Chord Of A Positive Longevity
In this upcoming symphony of transformation, business leaders can be both the composers and the audience. Embracing the potential of exponential technologies, Big Bang Disruption, circularity and decentralization can be transformative. It’s not just about adding years to our lives but about enhancing the quality of those years for true longevity. The stage is set, the spotlight awaits—let the show begin!
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