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Disrupt Yourself: Putting the Power of Disruptive Innovation to Work
Are you a high potential charting your course within your current organization, a leader trying to jumpstart innovative thinking in your company? Or are you ready to do something new?
Consider this simple yet powerful idea: disruptive companies and ideas upend markets by doing something truly different – they see a need, an empty space waiting to be filled, and they dare to create something for which a market may not yet exist. An expert in driving innovation via personal disruption, Whitney Johnson, will help you understand how the frameworks of disruptive innovation can apply to you: if you want to be successful in unexpected ways, follow your own disruptive path. Dare to innovate. Dream big dreams. Do something astonishing. Disrupt yourself. In this book, you will learn how to apply these frameworks to building a business, career – and you.
We are living in an era of accelerating disruption – those who can manage the S-curve waves of learning and maxing out will have a competitive advantage. But this is a skill set that needs to be learned. Disrupt Yourself will help people cope with the unpredictability of disruption, and use it to their competitive advantage.
Consider this simple yet powerful idea: disruptive companies and ideas upend markets by doing something truly different – they see a need, an empty space waiting to be filled, and they dare to create something for which a market may not yet exist. An expert in driving innovation via personal disruption, Whitney Johnson, will help you understand how the frameworks of disruptive innovation can apply to you: if you want to be successful in unexpected ways, follow your own disruptive path. Dare to innovate. Dream big dreams. Do something astonishing. Disrupt yourself. In this book, you will learn how to apply these frameworks to building a business, career – and you.
We are living in an era of accelerating disruption – those who can manage the S-curve waves of learning and maxing out will have a competitive advantage. But this is a skill set that needs to be learned. Disrupt Yourself will help people cope with the unpredictability of disruption, and use it to their competitive advantage.
162 pages, Hardcover
First published October 6, 2015
253 people are currently reading
3628 people want to read
About the author
Whitney Johnson
35 books127 followersWhitney Johnson was named one of the world's fifty most influential management thinkers by Thinkers50 in 2017.
She is the author of the forthcoming Build an A Team (Harvard Business Press, 2018) and the critically-acclaimed Disrupt Yourself: Putting the Power of Disruptive Innovation to Work (2015). Publisher's Weekly described it as "savvy...often counter-intuitive...superb" while the Boston Globe called it the "'What Color is Your Parachute?' career guide for the entrepreneurial age."
Through writing, speaking, consulting and coaching, Whitney works with leaders to retain their top talent, to build an A team, and to help them earn the gold star–be a boss people love.
She formerly was the co-founder of the Disruptive Innovation Fund with Harvard's Clayton Christensen, where they invested in and led the $8 million seed round for Korea’s Coupang, currently valued at $5+ billion. She was involved in fund formation, capital raising, and the development of the fund’s strategy. During her tenure, the CAGR of the Fund was 11.98% v. 1.22% for the S&P 500.
She is also formerly an award-winning Wall Street analyst. She was an Institutional Investor-ranked equity research analyst for eight consecutive years, and was rated by Starmine as a superior stock-picker. As an equity analyst, stocks under coverage included America Movil (NYSE: AMX), Televisa (NYSE: TV) and Telmex (NYSE: TMX), which accounted for roughly 40% of Mexico's market capitalization.
Whitney is a frequent contributor for the Harvard Business Review, she has over 1 million followers on Linkedin, and her LinkedIn course The Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship has 1 million+ views.
She is a member of the original cohort of Marshall Goldsmith's #100 coaches.
She is the author of the forthcoming Build an A Team (Harvard Business Press, 2018) and the critically-acclaimed Disrupt Yourself: Putting the Power of Disruptive Innovation to Work (2015). Publisher's Weekly described it as "savvy...often counter-intuitive...superb" while the Boston Globe called it the "'What Color is Your Parachute?' career guide for the entrepreneurial age."
Through writing, speaking, consulting and coaching, Whitney works with leaders to retain their top talent, to build an A team, and to help them earn the gold star–be a boss people love.
She formerly was the co-founder of the Disruptive Innovation Fund with Harvard's Clayton Christensen, where they invested in and led the $8 million seed round for Korea’s Coupang, currently valued at $5+ billion. She was involved in fund formation, capital raising, and the development of the fund’s strategy. During her tenure, the CAGR of the Fund was 11.98% v. 1.22% for the S&P 500.
She is also formerly an award-winning Wall Street analyst. She was an Institutional Investor-ranked equity research analyst for eight consecutive years, and was rated by Starmine as a superior stock-picker. As an equity analyst, stocks under coverage included America Movil (NYSE: AMX), Televisa (NYSE: TV) and Telmex (NYSE: TMX), which accounted for roughly 40% of Mexico's market capitalization.
Whitney is a frequent contributor for the Harvard Business Review, she has over 1 million followers on Linkedin, and her LinkedIn course The Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship has 1 million+ views.
She is a member of the original cohort of Marshall Goldsmith's #100 coaches.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 121 reviews
December 13, 2015
If you’re well-read (especially in the areas of business, strategy and human behavior), Disrupt Yourself is a good read that synthesizes much of what you know into a structure that is simple to recall and put into practice. As I read, there were many “Oh, I know that…” moments followed by unexpected, “Huh, didn't think of it that way though…” moments. I appreciated having my old, latent knowledge reframed in a different way. It was like finding gold – eureka! Plus, Johnson includes plenty of anecdotes and real-life applications of her ideas, which makes it easier to translate theory into practical use.
Disrupt Yourself is not a long book. In fact, I thought it would be a perfect bedside read. But, the layout of the content was dense. I felt compelled to really study the book with highlighters and pens in hand—marking key points, making notes in the margins, etc. Disrupt Yourself is the kind of book you’ll likely want to go back and read snippets of later, but because of the layout, you’d need to re-read the whole thing unless you annotated during your first read. Perhaps in future rounds of publishing the book can include more bullets, bolded content, call-outs and end-of-chapter summaries.
Disrupt Yourself is not a long book. In fact, I thought it would be a perfect bedside read. But, the layout of the content was dense. I felt compelled to really study the book with highlighters and pens in hand—marking key points, making notes in the margins, etc. Disrupt Yourself is the kind of book you’ll likely want to go back and read snippets of later, but because of the layout, you’d need to re-read the whole thing unless you annotated during your first read. Perhaps in future rounds of publishing the book can include more bullets, bolded content, call-outs and end-of-chapter summaries.
April 7, 2019
A quick read by Whitney Johnson who is working together with Clayton Christensen (Innovator's dilemma). In this book Whitney talks about how you can apply some of the start-up techniques to your own life to so to say disrupt yourself. A lot of the theory is based on the s-curve (normally used for adoption of new technology) and how you in life need to find new s-curves to continue to grow.
It's based on the following 7 rules:
take the right risks - competitive vs market risk - think red vs blue ocean, always best to go for blue.
play to your distinctive strengths - what skills have helped you survive? what makes you feel strong? what exasperates you about others? what made you different, even an oddball, as a child? what compliments do you shrug off? what are your hard-won skills? -> match your strengths with unmet needs
embrace constraints - constraints lead to faster feedback, constraints help us solve for one variable at a time, constraints help us stay focused. constraints to consider: money (a great prototype for bootstrapping is pluralsight), knowledge, time, etc constraints give us something to push against
battle entitlement, the innovation killer - cultural entitlement - antidote: transplant yourself to new cultures. the highest impact papers are those that mix conventional knowledge and novelty, novelty being defined as the references cited goes beyond the usual suspects. - brian uzzi and benjamin jones - emotional entitlement - antidote: be grateful - list three things that you are grateful for every day - intellectual entitlement - antidote: practice hearing dissenting voices -> disrupt yourself before disrupting others
step down, back, or sideways to grow - 80% of success is just showing up. Groundbreaking paper - success defined by the number of citations in other works, is directly correlated to the number of papers that the scientist has written, not to the IQ of the scientist. - grit
give failure its due - carol Dweck praise for performance vs praise for effort. learn to fail or fail to learn - tal ben-shahar. learn from failing - validated learning - eric ries. 5 why's - Toyota explore cause and effect
be driven by discovery - conventional planning from a to b, vs discovery-driven planning - McGrath and MacMillan 1) create a reverse income statement 2) calculate the cost 3) compile an assumption checklist 4) prepare a milestone chart - failure is an opportunity to recalibrate
Mandelbrot - financial prices have a memory (movements in stockprices today will influence the movements tomorrow), the company has a memory (what a company does today - influences what it will be in the future), you have a memory. If you disrupt today, then the probability that you will be disruptive tomorrow increases. momentum creates momentum.
It's based on the following 7 rules:
take the right risks - competitive vs market risk - think red vs blue ocean, always best to go for blue.
play to your distinctive strengths - what skills have helped you survive? what makes you feel strong? what exasperates you about others? what made you different, even an oddball, as a child? what compliments do you shrug off? what are your hard-won skills? -> match your strengths with unmet needs
embrace constraints - constraints lead to faster feedback, constraints help us solve for one variable at a time, constraints help us stay focused. constraints to consider: money (a great prototype for bootstrapping is pluralsight), knowledge, time, etc constraints give us something to push against
battle entitlement, the innovation killer - cultural entitlement - antidote: transplant yourself to new cultures. the highest impact papers are those that mix conventional knowledge and novelty, novelty being defined as the references cited goes beyond the usual suspects. - brian uzzi and benjamin jones - emotional entitlement - antidote: be grateful - list three things that you are grateful for every day - intellectual entitlement - antidote: practice hearing dissenting voices -> disrupt yourself before disrupting others
step down, back, or sideways to grow - 80% of success is just showing up. Groundbreaking paper - success defined by the number of citations in other works, is directly correlated to the number of papers that the scientist has written, not to the IQ of the scientist. - grit
give failure its due - carol Dweck praise for performance vs praise for effort. learn to fail or fail to learn - tal ben-shahar. learn from failing - validated learning - eric ries. 5 why's - Toyota explore cause and effect
be driven by discovery - conventional planning from a to b, vs discovery-driven planning - McGrath and MacMillan 1) create a reverse income statement 2) calculate the cost 3) compile an assumption checklist 4) prepare a milestone chart - failure is an opportunity to recalibrate
Mandelbrot - financial prices have a memory (movements in stockprices today will influence the movements tomorrow), the company has a memory (what a company does today - influences what it will be in the future), you have a memory. If you disrupt today, then the probability that you will be disruptive tomorrow increases. momentum creates momentum.
December 1, 2015
I honestly did not expect to enjoy this book ...
At a cursory glance, the author's business background and a distinct emphasis in some early reviews on innovation, financial analysis, and so on turned me off. I tend to go for more of a leadership and personal development focus and this seemed way too "businessy", if that word exists.
However, I had the opportunity to hear the author in a webinar and my attention was fully engaged from the first minute. Whitney Johnson is a successful businessperson, but beyond that she is someone who wants sincerely to help others. As I began to read the book, learning started to occur and has not yet stopped. That is possibly the highest praise I can give a book.
The beginning of the book introduces us to a graphic called the S-Curve Model, which originated with E. M. Rogers. This simple and graceful upward curving line provides both understanding and comfort for those of us who sometimes struggle with the pace of learning and change.
Anyone who takes the time to learn this model will benefit both personally and professionally ... if nothing else, we will have an easier time as we travel through transition.
The bulk of the book is taken up with deeper dives into the heart of her book: "... seven variables which can speed up or slow down the movement of individuals or organizations along the curve." Each chapter is a gem in itself, and they are organized to follow the upward sweep of that curve.
This books contains elegant and practical learning, not always two things found together. My personal favorite section was on "distinctive strengths". I have some affinity for anything which talks about "strengths" versus "weaknesses”, because I believe that when we focus on identify, building, and using our strengths, we will receive maximum return on our investment of time and energy.
"Distinctive" is a key word here. We may have strengths which are things we do well which do not set us apart from others who also do those things well. We may also talk ourselves into considering something a strength, when it is really something we enjoy doing, regardless of skill level.
Distinctive strengths are self-determined, but Johnson provides six dynamite questions to help you identify what makes you an effective competitor. She then advises on how to match your distinctive strength with an unmet need, which seems obvious, even though we often do not do this. Finally, she plants this particular point firmly and clearly on the S-Curve, to help us understand the developmental nature of the model.
Johnson could have written an entire book or at least an extended professional article focused just on the one variable I mentioned above and the rest of the chapters are equally rich.
"Disrupt Yourself" is simply one very useful little book and I can easily recommend it to anyone who wants to change, needs to change, or works with those who want or need to change. If you are a leader, want to be a leader, or develop leaders, you better buy this book, memorize it, and sleep with it under your pillow … and yes, I am serious here.
Disclaimer: I received a copy for review, but am happily investing in several more copies to share with coaching clients who need to grow and change effectively
At a cursory glance, the author's business background and a distinct emphasis in some early reviews on innovation, financial analysis, and so on turned me off. I tend to go for more of a leadership and personal development focus and this seemed way too "businessy", if that word exists.
However, I had the opportunity to hear the author in a webinar and my attention was fully engaged from the first minute. Whitney Johnson is a successful businessperson, but beyond that she is someone who wants sincerely to help others. As I began to read the book, learning started to occur and has not yet stopped. That is possibly the highest praise I can give a book.
The beginning of the book introduces us to a graphic called the S-Curve Model, which originated with E. M. Rogers. This simple and graceful upward curving line provides both understanding and comfort for those of us who sometimes struggle with the pace of learning and change.
Anyone who takes the time to learn this model will benefit both personally and professionally ... if nothing else, we will have an easier time as we travel through transition.
The bulk of the book is taken up with deeper dives into the heart of her book: "... seven variables which can speed up or slow down the movement of individuals or organizations along the curve." Each chapter is a gem in itself, and they are organized to follow the upward sweep of that curve.
This books contains elegant and practical learning, not always two things found together. My personal favorite section was on "distinctive strengths". I have some affinity for anything which talks about "strengths" versus "weaknesses”, because I believe that when we focus on identify, building, and using our strengths, we will receive maximum return on our investment of time and energy.
"Distinctive" is a key word here. We may have strengths which are things we do well which do not set us apart from others who also do those things well. We may also talk ourselves into considering something a strength, when it is really something we enjoy doing, regardless of skill level.
Distinctive strengths are self-determined, but Johnson provides six dynamite questions to help you identify what makes you an effective competitor. She then advises on how to match your distinctive strength with an unmet need, which seems obvious, even though we often do not do this. Finally, she plants this particular point firmly and clearly on the S-Curve, to help us understand the developmental nature of the model.
Johnson could have written an entire book or at least an extended professional article focused just on the one variable I mentioned above and the rest of the chapters are equally rich.
"Disrupt Yourself" is simply one very useful little book and I can easily recommend it to anyone who wants to change, needs to change, or works with those who want or need to change. If you are a leader, want to be a leader, or develop leaders, you better buy this book, memorize it, and sleep with it under your pillow … and yes, I am serious here.
Disclaimer: I received a copy for review, but am happily investing in several more copies to share with coaching clients who need to grow and change effectively
August 26, 2016
Disruptors have to be driven by discovery.
I recently had dinner with Tai Tran, Forbes 30 under 30 in Marketing. What impressed me the most about him was that he has fully discovered himself in terms of his personalities and what he can and cannot do. The book Disrupt Yourself helped me better understand the power of self-discovery and how we can disrupt ourselves through discovery-driven planning.
Discovery-driven planning is what interests me the most about this book. Rather than calculating cost, and revenue, then profit, you would do the reverse order and think: to achieve my baseline level of happiness, what do I need accomplish and what am I willing to give up in order to make this happen?
I got to know this book from Tai, and I would totally recommend this book to others who are ready to jump and disrupt themselves.
I recently had dinner with Tai Tran, Forbes 30 under 30 in Marketing. What impressed me the most about him was that he has fully discovered himself in terms of his personalities and what he can and cannot do. The book Disrupt Yourself helped me better understand the power of self-discovery and how we can disrupt ourselves through discovery-driven planning.
Discovery-driven planning is what interests me the most about this book. Rather than calculating cost, and revenue, then profit, you would do the reverse order and think: to achieve my baseline level of happiness, what do I need accomplish and what am I willing to give up in order to make this happen?
I got to know this book from Tai, and I would totally recommend this book to others who are ready to jump and disrupt themselves.
December 11, 2015
I read this book at the recommendation of intentional living expert Tara Mohr, who I adore. I was disappointed by the book because it leans VERY heavily on business strategy (not surprising because it was applying a business tactic to individual development, and the author comes from the world of high finance). I found very little, in the strategy and examples of individuals who had "disrupted" their lives, to apply to my own life. Part of me thinks this isn't the fault of the book, which is clear and well-written and would probably engage an MBA sort, but I also believe that the author could've addressed a larger audience by using more examples from outside the finance/tech world, and feature individuals whose "disruption" didn't have a solid base in business. In my opinion, this book didn't do enough to apply the business theory to individual development, it was just another book on disruption theory (which isn't why I bought it). Her argument is valid, but if you aren't motivated by business, I suspect you would get just as much out of reading an article summarizing this book, and instead pick up a copy of "Daring Greatly" by Brene Brown.
August 14, 2018
Disruption, like many other business concepts, is well known and well understood. As is often the case, we don't naturally think of applying this concept to our own personal brand or career. Johnson gives a simple and fresh perspective for doing just that. I especially appreciated the content about taking risks, leading with strengths, and leveraging failure. This book reads fast, makes you stop and thinking, and is worth every second spent on either of these.
February 11, 2024
Totally enjoyed this book. Whitney lets us into her journey as she disrupted herself from a long successful career in Walk Street to being self employed. She shares lessons she learnt along the way and she merges personal lessons to corporate lessons beautifully.
November 5, 2021
Great read. I highly recommend it for those who recognize that if they don't intentionally disrupt themselves on a regular basis, life will disrupt them.
December 31, 2019
This was the perfect book with which to close out 2019 and anticipate a new year and decade. Whitney Johnson, one of the nation's leading business thinkers and thought leaders, makes a compelling case for the importance of constantly challenging one's self and seeking ever-increasing personal growth and learning.
Using the the "S-curve" model that is typically used to explain how, why, and at what rates ideas and products spread and grow, Johnson's theory is that every individual can also find, and accelerate up, "S-curves" of growth in their personal lives by implementing seven strategies: 1) Take the right risks; 2) Play to your distinctive strengths; 3) Embrace constraints; 4) Battle entitlement; 5) Step back to grow; 6) Give failure its due; and 7) Be discovery driven. Johnson devotes a chapter to each strategy, giving both examples from both her personal experience and that of others to demonstrate the various concepts.
In the afterword, Johnson writes: "Learning is not linear, but exponential: there is a cumulative and compounding effect. If you do something disruptive today, then the probability that you can be disruptive tomorrow increases. Momentum creates momentum." I believe in this principle wholeheartedly, and Johnson's book is a great resource for anyone looking for some applicable and effective tools to compound both learning and growth.
Using the the "S-curve" model that is typically used to explain how, why, and at what rates ideas and products spread and grow, Johnson's theory is that every individual can also find, and accelerate up, "S-curves" of growth in their personal lives by implementing seven strategies: 1) Take the right risks; 2) Play to your distinctive strengths; 3) Embrace constraints; 4) Battle entitlement; 5) Step back to grow; 6) Give failure its due; and 7) Be discovery driven. Johnson devotes a chapter to each strategy, giving both examples from both her personal experience and that of others to demonstrate the various concepts.
In the afterword, Johnson writes: "Learning is not linear, but exponential: there is a cumulative and compounding effect. If you do something disruptive today, then the probability that you can be disruptive tomorrow increases. Momentum creates momentum." I believe in this principle wholeheartedly, and Johnson's book is a great resource for anyone looking for some applicable and effective tools to compound both learning and growth.
November 19, 2017
I was really underwhelmed by this book, perhaps because I expected to like it.
Whitney Johnson applies Disruption Theory—a theory that explains how low-end companies disrupt industries—to individual persons. By thinking about S-curves as analogous to competencies, she suggests that you can make big changes, take new jobs, and feel confident that you will make progress.
It's a fine idea, but I didn't think there was a lot to the book.
Whitney Johnson applies Disruption Theory—a theory that explains how low-end companies disrupt industries—to individual persons. By thinking about S-curves as analogous to competencies, she suggests that you can make big changes, take new jobs, and feel confident that you will make progress.
It's a fine idea, but I didn't think there was a lot to the book.
January 7, 2017
There comes a point in your life, no matter what you do, when the question 'What next?' becomes a recurring one in your mind. While the 'What' is something you can figure relatively easily, the 'How' usually becomes the more daunting question. This book helps you answer that.
June 27, 2021
Interesting read!! S-curve is the principle behind this and Whitney raises some pertinent points on how to disrupt oneself. Her own career has been one of disruption. Insatiable curiosity and learning are imp for one’s own self-discovery!
January 30, 2016
This book was different than I was expecting. I was expecting something more personal and applicable to more situations, but it was very business and career focused. There have definitely been times in my life when I have been looking for change (jobs and otherwise) and new ways to grow. I've taken chances and stepped back to try to move forward, but that's not my current situation and the tone is more competitive than is helpful for my mindset, but I did learn some things and appreciated the reminders of the importance of learning, pushing yourself, finding your strengths, embracing constraints, and battling entitlement (particularly with humility and gratitude).
My main takeaways: Don't be complacent. Be mindful. Don't be afraid to do something new or make mistakes, take risks. Seek for opportunities to grow and learn and progress. For me those things don't have so much to do with a job, than with how I live my life and the character and attributes I'm trying to develop. There are many goals we can set for ourselves, but we should also be open to new opportunities along the way.
Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the book:
"As we launch into something new, understanding that progress may at first be almost imperceptible helps keep discouragement at bay (p. xxiv)."
"Disrupting yourself is critical to avoiding stagnation, being overtaken by low-end entrants (i.e., younger, smarter, faster workers), and fast-tracking your personal and career growth (p. xxi)."
"When you are learning, you are feeling the effects of dopamine, a neurotransmitter in your brain that makes you feel good. It's an office dweller's version of thrill seeking. Once we reach the upper flat portion of the S-curve and things become habitual or automatic, our brains create less of these feel-good chemicals and boredom can kick in, making an emotional case for personal disruption (p. xxv)."
"I've identified seven variables that can speed up or slow down the movement of individuals or organizations along the curve, including:
Taking the right risks
Playing to your distinct strengths
Embracing constraints
Battling entitlement
Stepping back to grow
Giving failure its due
Being discovering driven (p. xxvi)."
"The emotional costs of staying had become too high when I could no longer bring my dreams to work (p. 7)."
"It is better to be treated as a paper airplane than a fighter jet. When you are disrupting, the best possible start-up scenario is to be dismissed, even ignored (p. 13)."
"Disruptors not only look for unmet needs, they match those needs with their distinctive strengths. A distinctive strength is something that you do well that others within your sphere don't. Pairing this strength with a need to be met or problem to be solved gives you the momentum necessary to move into hypergrowth (p. 19)."
"Is there something that made you peculiar when you were young? Could it be your superpower (p. 25)?"
"In a competitive field of candidates, his resume stood out, not because herding cattle was a requisite skill for the job, but because he was no stranger to hard work (p. 27)."
"There is no shortage of jobs-to-be-done and problems to be solved. But there's only one of you. The right problems are those that you somehow feel called to solve, and are capable of solving, because of your expertise and accumulated life experience. As you consider making the leap to a new learning curve, examine the assets you've acquired, and focus on what you can do that others cannot. Then look for a job that no one else is doing (p. 36)."
"The human mind has astounding learning capabilities but constantly seeks out constraints. Including constraints allows you to make a faster, more accurate prediction of the consequences of your actions, letting you determine which course of action will likely give you the best result (p. 41)."
"If we had a detector that captured all electromagnetic wavelengths simultaneously there would be so much information that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to make sense of our surroundings. One form of electromagnetic radiation is visible light; our eyes resolve a small part of the electromagnetic spectrum into the faces of people we love, for example. To detect infrared radiation with longer wavelengths, we need night goggles. To see through solid objects, we need an X-ray machine, which sees only shorter wavelengths. In applying limits to the electromagnetic wavelengths we can observe, we gain clarity (p. 46)."
"When you are trying something for the first time, your approach may very well be innovative and fresh (p. 50)."
"Every constraint, whether physical or mental, external or internal, can be a catalyst for moving up our learning curve (p. 53)."
"'The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees one's self (Bach, p. 56).'"
"Our bodies evolved in an environment where stress and strain are the norm. Weight lifting causes microtrauma that initiates a damage response pathway that secretes growth hormones. Weight lifting, not weightlessness, builds strength (p. 56)."
"A practical and low-cost means of changing your environment is opening up your network. The more close your network, the more you hear the same ideas over and again, reaffirming what you already believe, while the more open your network, the more exposed you are to new ideas (p. 64)."
"When we believe we are owed something by life, deserving more than the person to our right or left, we get caught in a vortex of narcissism that makes personal disruption impossible (p. 69)."
"When we are bitter about unfulfilled dreams, harboring a grudge about not getting the life we wanted or ever deserved, aren't we letting venom move through our systems? Being grateful for the dreams that have (and have not) come true is an antidote to emotional entitlement (p. 69)."
"No matter how powerful you may be, when you have the humility to do the work of getting others on board, you will be able to repeatedly jump to and successfully mount your own learning curves--and help others do the same (p. 74)."
"Most of us are brimming with confidence, even competence, to change the world. It is vital that we are also equipped with the humility to understand that changing the world and keeping innovation alive require that we change ourselves. Let's not risk losing a lofty dream because we think we deserve it (p. 75)."
"Just as a company's survival depends on revenue growth, an individual's well-being depends on learning and advancement (p. 82)."
"There are instances where we abandon ship, whether in a business or a relationship, out of fear. The going gets tough, and we get gone. In my experience, the far more common challenges is mustering the courage to jump when you are comfortable. When the status quo doesn't seem all that bad, jumping often seems needlessly risky. So, pack a parachute to make your jump a safer one (p. 87)."
"One of the most difficult aspects of jumping to a new curve is setting aside your ego (p. 89)."
"Most people hit a point in their lives where they examine their trajectory and consider a pivot. We typically label this the midlife crisis. In disruptive innovation terminology, it's a rethinking of which performance attributes matter....'What can I do to make my life really count (p. 92)?'"
"'It's not possible for the world to hold a meeting to decide your value. That decision is all yours (Liz Strauss, p. 93).'"
"'Failure is only the opportunity more intelligently to begin again (Henry Ford, p. 95).'"
"Whether you are a woman or a man, if you perceive your smartness, cleverness, and success as an innate part of your identity, when you fail, the failure becomes a referendum on you (p. 97)."
"If you're addicted to being right, you can't exactly partake in the kind of humble inquiry that's an essential part of growth. Rather than fight it or flee it, we must learn to face failure (p. 98)."
"We frequently applaud failure in theory, but the dirty little secret is that it makes all of us feel at least a little ashamed (p. 104)."
"It's important to dream, and it's important to know when to find a new dream (p. 106)."
"He realized that the right question wasn't, 'Can I try something new?' but rather, 'Why won't I (p. 107)?'"
"Whether we see an experience as a failure or a success is ultimately a choice (p. 109)."
"'The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible (Arthur C. Clarke, p. 111).'"
"'Most people don't form a self and then lead a life. They are called by a problem, and the self is constructed gradually by their calling (David Brooks, p. 113).'"
"She was so competent and willing to adapt that her managers frequently found new ways to use her, thus propelling her on to new learning curves (p. 117)."
"Businesses and individuals that are disrupting themselves frequently find themselves with very little, if any, company (p. 121)."
"Because disruption can feel like you are in the company of one, you need to know what job you want this learning curve to do. What do you hope to gain and why are you disrupting yourself or your business? You may be thinking, I don't know what my 'why' is. Finding your why is part of the discovery-driven process, and there are often clues to be found in your hopes and dreams (p. 124)."
"Once you know your why, there are lots of roads that will take you there (p. 125)."
My main takeaways: Don't be complacent. Be mindful. Don't be afraid to do something new or make mistakes, take risks. Seek for opportunities to grow and learn and progress. For me those things don't have so much to do with a job, than with how I live my life and the character and attributes I'm trying to develop. There are many goals we can set for ourselves, but we should also be open to new opportunities along the way.
Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the book:
"As we launch into something new, understanding that progress may at first be almost imperceptible helps keep discouragement at bay (p. xxiv)."
"Disrupting yourself is critical to avoiding stagnation, being overtaken by low-end entrants (i.e., younger, smarter, faster workers), and fast-tracking your personal and career growth (p. xxi)."
"When you are learning, you are feeling the effects of dopamine, a neurotransmitter in your brain that makes you feel good. It's an office dweller's version of thrill seeking. Once we reach the upper flat portion of the S-curve and things become habitual or automatic, our brains create less of these feel-good chemicals and boredom can kick in, making an emotional case for personal disruption (p. xxv)."
"I've identified seven variables that can speed up or slow down the movement of individuals or organizations along the curve, including:
Taking the right risks
Playing to your distinct strengths
Embracing constraints
Battling entitlement
Stepping back to grow
Giving failure its due
Being discovering driven (p. xxvi)."
"The emotional costs of staying had become too high when I could no longer bring my dreams to work (p. 7)."
"It is better to be treated as a paper airplane than a fighter jet. When you are disrupting, the best possible start-up scenario is to be dismissed, even ignored (p. 13)."
"Disruptors not only look for unmet needs, they match those needs with their distinctive strengths. A distinctive strength is something that you do well that others within your sphere don't. Pairing this strength with a need to be met or problem to be solved gives you the momentum necessary to move into hypergrowth (p. 19)."
"Is there something that made you peculiar when you were young? Could it be your superpower (p. 25)?"
"In a competitive field of candidates, his resume stood out, not because herding cattle was a requisite skill for the job, but because he was no stranger to hard work (p. 27)."
"There is no shortage of jobs-to-be-done and problems to be solved. But there's only one of you. The right problems are those that you somehow feel called to solve, and are capable of solving, because of your expertise and accumulated life experience. As you consider making the leap to a new learning curve, examine the assets you've acquired, and focus on what you can do that others cannot. Then look for a job that no one else is doing (p. 36)."
"The human mind has astounding learning capabilities but constantly seeks out constraints. Including constraints allows you to make a faster, more accurate prediction of the consequences of your actions, letting you determine which course of action will likely give you the best result (p. 41)."
"If we had a detector that captured all electromagnetic wavelengths simultaneously there would be so much information that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to make sense of our surroundings. One form of electromagnetic radiation is visible light; our eyes resolve a small part of the electromagnetic spectrum into the faces of people we love, for example. To detect infrared radiation with longer wavelengths, we need night goggles. To see through solid objects, we need an X-ray machine, which sees only shorter wavelengths. In applying limits to the electromagnetic wavelengths we can observe, we gain clarity (p. 46)."
"When you are trying something for the first time, your approach may very well be innovative and fresh (p. 50)."
"Every constraint, whether physical or mental, external or internal, can be a catalyst for moving up our learning curve (p. 53)."
"'The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees one's self (Bach, p. 56).'"
"Our bodies evolved in an environment where stress and strain are the norm. Weight lifting causes microtrauma that initiates a damage response pathway that secretes growth hormones. Weight lifting, not weightlessness, builds strength (p. 56)."
"A practical and low-cost means of changing your environment is opening up your network. The more close your network, the more you hear the same ideas over and again, reaffirming what you already believe, while the more open your network, the more exposed you are to new ideas (p. 64)."
"When we believe we are owed something by life, deserving more than the person to our right or left, we get caught in a vortex of narcissism that makes personal disruption impossible (p. 69)."
"When we are bitter about unfulfilled dreams, harboring a grudge about not getting the life we wanted or ever deserved, aren't we letting venom move through our systems? Being grateful for the dreams that have (and have not) come true is an antidote to emotional entitlement (p. 69)."
"No matter how powerful you may be, when you have the humility to do the work of getting others on board, you will be able to repeatedly jump to and successfully mount your own learning curves--and help others do the same (p. 74)."
"Most of us are brimming with confidence, even competence, to change the world. It is vital that we are also equipped with the humility to understand that changing the world and keeping innovation alive require that we change ourselves. Let's not risk losing a lofty dream because we think we deserve it (p. 75)."
"Just as a company's survival depends on revenue growth, an individual's well-being depends on learning and advancement (p. 82)."
"There are instances where we abandon ship, whether in a business or a relationship, out of fear. The going gets tough, and we get gone. In my experience, the far more common challenges is mustering the courage to jump when you are comfortable. When the status quo doesn't seem all that bad, jumping often seems needlessly risky. So, pack a parachute to make your jump a safer one (p. 87)."
"One of the most difficult aspects of jumping to a new curve is setting aside your ego (p. 89)."
"Most people hit a point in their lives where they examine their trajectory and consider a pivot. We typically label this the midlife crisis. In disruptive innovation terminology, it's a rethinking of which performance attributes matter....'What can I do to make my life really count (p. 92)?'"
"'It's not possible for the world to hold a meeting to decide your value. That decision is all yours (Liz Strauss, p. 93).'"
"'Failure is only the opportunity more intelligently to begin again (Henry Ford, p. 95).'"
"Whether you are a woman or a man, if you perceive your smartness, cleverness, and success as an innate part of your identity, when you fail, the failure becomes a referendum on you (p. 97)."
"If you're addicted to being right, you can't exactly partake in the kind of humble inquiry that's an essential part of growth. Rather than fight it or flee it, we must learn to face failure (p. 98)."
"We frequently applaud failure in theory, but the dirty little secret is that it makes all of us feel at least a little ashamed (p. 104)."
"It's important to dream, and it's important to know when to find a new dream (p. 106)."
"He realized that the right question wasn't, 'Can I try something new?' but rather, 'Why won't I (p. 107)?'"
"Whether we see an experience as a failure or a success is ultimately a choice (p. 109)."
"'The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible (Arthur C. Clarke, p. 111).'"
"'Most people don't form a self and then lead a life. They are called by a problem, and the self is constructed gradually by their calling (David Brooks, p. 113).'"
"She was so competent and willing to adapt that her managers frequently found new ways to use her, thus propelling her on to new learning curves (p. 117)."
"Businesses and individuals that are disrupting themselves frequently find themselves with very little, if any, company (p. 121)."
"Because disruption can feel like you are in the company of one, you need to know what job you want this learning curve to do. What do you hope to gain and why are you disrupting yourself or your business? You may be thinking, I don't know what my 'why' is. Finding your why is part of the discovery-driven process, and there are often clues to be found in your hopes and dreams (p. 124)."
"Once you know your why, there are lots of roads that will take you there (p. 125)."
September 29, 2019
The author talks about using the disruption technique in your career. To replicate the techniques used by disruptive companies to disrupt your career and make it incredible during the process.
The book is short and sweet but lacks the required depth or the conceptual clarity to offer a substantial formula for personal disruption or disruption of the career. The author offers tons of examples of individuals who have successfully disrupted their careers and industries, all the while ignoring those who have ruined their careers while trying to disrupt themselves and their careers. The book has a pinch of survivorship bias associated with it. The author only talks about those legends who have rocked their careers ignoring those who have utterly failed to do so. Also, the author does not talk about a generic approach to disruption, given the fact that there couldn't be one.
The book can be summed up as take a chance. The author has also failed to discern common patterns of disruption used by these disruptors. The book is derivative at best, there isn't a single contribution from the author that is unique, this book derives from concepts and anecdotes from hundreds of other works. So much for original thought. I also don't understand why the author has to give so many examples, none of which are dealt with in detail, the author also jumps from one example to the next in a rush, trying to save space I reckon.
Here is a list of books that the author mentions in this work:
42 rules for your new leadership role
A Christmas carol
Rookie Smarts
Writing to change the world
Digital bank - skinner
Money Ball
Lean startup
Keywords:
Jobs To Be Done
Functional and emotional returns of a new job
Predator inspection behavior
Promotion vs prevention mindsets
Competitive risk vs market risk
Fly under the radar - SNHU digital courses
Impose constraints - intuit, shabby apple, plural sight
Emotional entitlement
Intellectual entitlement
Dissenting voices as allies
Step back to move ahead - BRE bank
Tractor supply
The frozen middle
Plan to fail
Validated failure - validated learning
5 why's technique
Rock bottom is the most solid foundation - Harry Potter author - JK Rowling
500 startups founder
Disruptors play where no one is playing
Discovery driven planning
Self built by a calling
1. Reverse income statement
2. Calculate the cost
3. Assumption checklist
4. Prepare milestones chart
Know your why -
Search for steep learning curve
Dreams are the engine of disruption
The book is short and sweet but lacks the required depth or the conceptual clarity to offer a substantial formula for personal disruption or disruption of the career. The author offers tons of examples of individuals who have successfully disrupted their careers and industries, all the while ignoring those who have ruined their careers while trying to disrupt themselves and their careers. The book has a pinch of survivorship bias associated with it. The author only talks about those legends who have rocked their careers ignoring those who have utterly failed to do so. Also, the author does not talk about a generic approach to disruption, given the fact that there couldn't be one.
The book can be summed up as take a chance. The author has also failed to discern common patterns of disruption used by these disruptors. The book is derivative at best, there isn't a single contribution from the author that is unique, this book derives from concepts and anecdotes from hundreds of other works. So much for original thought. I also don't understand why the author has to give so many examples, none of which are dealt with in detail, the author also jumps from one example to the next in a rush, trying to save space I reckon.
Here is a list of books that the author mentions in this work:
42 rules for your new leadership role
A Christmas carol
Rookie Smarts
Writing to change the world
Digital bank - skinner
Money Ball
Lean startup
Keywords:
Jobs To Be Done
Functional and emotional returns of a new job
Predator inspection behavior
Promotion vs prevention mindsets
Competitive risk vs market risk
Fly under the radar - SNHU digital courses
Impose constraints - intuit, shabby apple, plural sight
Emotional entitlement
Intellectual entitlement
Dissenting voices as allies
Step back to move ahead - BRE bank
Tractor supply
The frozen middle
Plan to fail
Validated failure - validated learning
5 why's technique
Rock bottom is the most solid foundation - Harry Potter author - JK Rowling
500 startups founder
Disruptors play where no one is playing
Discovery driven planning
Self built by a calling
1. Reverse income statement
2. Calculate the cost
3. Assumption checklist
4. Prepare milestones chart
Know your why -
Search for steep learning curve
Dreams are the engine of disruption
September 9, 2017
⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 “When you disrupt yourself, you are looking for growth, so if you want to muscle up a curve, you have to push and pull against objects and barriers that would constrain and constrict you. That is how you get stronger.” ~ Whitney Johnson
Key Ideas: 1. Disruptive innovation in your personal life can advance your career. 2. Embrace your limitations and focus on your strengths. 3. Stay flexible, stay curious. 4. "S" curve- competitive risk vs market risk. 5. Sometimes you have to take a step back (or laterally) to take a step forward. 6. Look for unmet needs. 7. Beware the dangers of emotional and intellectual entitlement. 8. Broaden your network so you don't stagnate. 9. Expose yourself to the risk of failure. 10. Learning is not linear, it is exponential. 11. What is your why? Find it.
Another good read. I think it spoke to me in this moment because I feel as though I am walking this "S" curve in two world. I am definitely causing "disruption" as it were at work. Helping my community shake up their innovation. Causing reflection and growth among others, which is great for the school and the future. But at the same time, I am not disrupting my own innovation enough. I feel stagnant in my own learning. Craving conversations that will challenge my thinking. Craving challenges in my personal life that will move me up the "s" curve.
I feel like I have always been a disrupter. When I get bored, I move. Move out of the town, move from one challenge professionally to the next, move from one personal challenge to the next (teaching Zumba, running 1/2 marathons). I think this is why I am craving a Ph.D. I don't know.... I think what stuck with me is the last chapter, as she mentioned "find your why", and I just finished Simon Sinek's book. I think right now....I am in a "why" lull, personally. I know I will find it. I found it when I went from being a fish biologist to a long term sub. I found it when I moved to Oregon and back to New Mexico. I found it when I moved from jobs I loved to to other jobs I have loved. Disruption for me is what keeps me going....I am not afraid of the change. I just hope it leads me somewhere down the road.....to my "why".
Key Ideas: 1. Disruptive innovation in your personal life can advance your career. 2. Embrace your limitations and focus on your strengths. 3. Stay flexible, stay curious. 4. "S" curve- competitive risk vs market risk. 5. Sometimes you have to take a step back (or laterally) to take a step forward. 6. Look for unmet needs. 7. Beware the dangers of emotional and intellectual entitlement. 8. Broaden your network so you don't stagnate. 9. Expose yourself to the risk of failure. 10. Learning is not linear, it is exponential. 11. What is your why? Find it.
Another good read. I think it spoke to me in this moment because I feel as though I am walking this "S" curve in two world. I am definitely causing "disruption" as it were at work. Helping my community shake up their innovation. Causing reflection and growth among others, which is great for the school and the future. But at the same time, I am not disrupting my own innovation enough. I feel stagnant in my own learning. Craving conversations that will challenge my thinking. Craving challenges in my personal life that will move me up the "s" curve.
I feel like I have always been a disrupter. When I get bored, I move. Move out of the town, move from one challenge professionally to the next, move from one personal challenge to the next (teaching Zumba, running 1/2 marathons). I think this is why I am craving a Ph.D. I don't know.... I think what stuck with me is the last chapter, as she mentioned "find your why", and I just finished Simon Sinek's book. I think right now....I am in a "why" lull, personally. I know I will find it. I found it when I went from being a fish biologist to a long term sub. I found it when I moved to Oregon and back to New Mexico. I found it when I moved from jobs I loved to to other jobs I have loved. Disruption for me is what keeps me going....I am not afraid of the change. I just hope it leads me somewhere down the road.....to my "why".
February 26, 2022
Quick read that makes you want the wrangle your next s-curve
"As the pace of disruptive innovation quickens when you are in the midst of a crashing wave,what is unsettling can also be an amazing ride."
"As we launch into something new, understanding that progress may at first be almost imperceptible helps keep discouragement at bay. It also helps us recognize why the steep part of the learning curve is so fun. When you are learning you are feeling the effects of dopamine."
"7 variables that can speed up or slow down the movement of individuals or organizations along the curve including:
taking the right risks
playing to your distinctive strengths
embracing constraints
battling entitlement
stepping back to grow
giving failure its due
being discovery driven"
"If a task is not both meaningful and relevant your brain will have little motivation to learn it and thus to move up the S-curve."
"The emotional cost of staying had become too high when I could no longer bring my dreams to work."
"It's better to be treated like a paper airplane than a fighter jet."
"What exasperates you about others?...The frustration of genius is in believing that if it is easy for you it must be easy for everyone else."
"Constraints offer structure that can liberate us from the chaos and disorder of entropy."
"First let's consider the math behind a life with complete freedom. While the possibilities are impressive, the complexities can be debilitating."
"When we patiently isolate variables we can solve the equation of personal disruption."
"When faced with a constraint we initially tend to adopt a victim mindset, believing a constraint with inhibit out ability to realize an ambition.... In the responsive transformer stage we recognize that the constrain could be the catalyst for a better solution."
"When I fail I am mortified but I am also heartbroken. I have envisioned a future in which I would achieve a goal and perhaps be hailed as the conquering hero. And then I didn't and I wasn't. I've learned it is important to grieve."
"As the pace of disruptive innovation quickens when you are in the midst of a crashing wave,what is unsettling can also be an amazing ride."
"As we launch into something new, understanding that progress may at first be almost imperceptible helps keep discouragement at bay. It also helps us recognize why the steep part of the learning curve is so fun. When you are learning you are feeling the effects of dopamine."
"7 variables that can speed up or slow down the movement of individuals or organizations along the curve including:
taking the right risks
playing to your distinctive strengths
embracing constraints
battling entitlement
stepping back to grow
giving failure its due
being discovery driven"
"If a task is not both meaningful and relevant your brain will have little motivation to learn it and thus to move up the S-curve."
"The emotional cost of staying had become too high when I could no longer bring my dreams to work."
"It's better to be treated like a paper airplane than a fighter jet."
"What exasperates you about others?...The frustration of genius is in believing that if it is easy for you it must be easy for everyone else."
"Constraints offer structure that can liberate us from the chaos and disorder of entropy."
"First let's consider the math behind a life with complete freedom. While the possibilities are impressive, the complexities can be debilitating."
"When we patiently isolate variables we can solve the equation of personal disruption."
"When faced with a constraint we initially tend to adopt a victim mindset, believing a constraint with inhibit out ability to realize an ambition.... In the responsive transformer stage we recognize that the constrain could be the catalyst for a better solution."
"When I fail I am mortified but I am also heartbroken. I have envisioned a future in which I would achieve a goal and perhaps be hailed as the conquering hero. And then I didn't and I wasn't. I've learned it is important to grieve."
June 9, 2022
ในจักรวาลแห่งหนังสืออันกว้างใหญ่ไพศาลนั้น มันจะมีหนังสือบางเล่มที่เราเปิดอ่านครั้งเดียวแล้วโยนทิ้ง เล่มที่ทนอ่านจนจบแล้วไม่คิดจะเปิดมันอีกเลย และเล่มที่เราอ่านแล้วอ่านเล่าจนอ่านจบไป 1 รอบแล้วก็แต่มันก็ยังอยู่ในห้วงคำนึงและยังคงหยิบมาอ่านอยู่เสมอ
Disrupt Yourself: Master Relentless Change and Speed Up Your Learning Curve คือหนังสือจำพวกหลังสุด
หนังสือเล่มนี้พูดกับเราว่าทำไมคุณถึงควร Disrupt career path และชีวิตตัวเอง เมื่อไหร่ที่คุณควรจะทำมัน คุณต้องเตรียมตัวเตรียมใจกับอะไรบ้างในการกระโจนออกจาก comfort zone ของคุณ และอุปสรรคใดบ้างที่คุณต้องเจอข้างหน้า
ฟังดูก็เหมือนเนื้อหาใน Self-help How to ธรรมดาใช่ไหมล่ะ
แต่ความเจ๋งของหนังสือเล่มนี้คือ ผู้เขียนไม่ได้เขียนแค่ด้านสว่างของการออกจาก comfort zone ไง เธอเองก็เขียนถึงด้านที่ไม่สวยงามของมันด้วยเหมือนกัน
และสิ่งที่เธอเน้นย้ำในหนังสือเล่มนี้คือเมื่อคุณตัดสินใจที่กระโดออกจาก comfort zone ของตัวเอง คุณอาจจะเจออุปสรรคยากๆ ที่ทำให้คุณอยากถอยกลับไปอยู่ใน Comfort zone หรือคุณอาจจะล้มเหลวไม่เป็นท่ากับการกระโดดออกมาก็ได้
ใช่แล้วฮะ ทุกเรื่องไม่ได้มีแค่ด้านสวยงาม ไม่ได้มีแต่ความสำเร็จรออยู่ข้างหน้า
แต่สิ่งสำคัญที่สุดคือการยอมรับความผิดพลาดพ่ายแพ้ พยายามแก้ไขปัญหาและอดทนจนถึงที่สุด ปล่อยวางเมื่อถึงเวลา และเดินหน้าต่อไป
และสำหรับเรา หนังสือเล่มนี้ควรค่าแก่การซื้อมาเพื่ออ่านแล้วอ่านเล่าในวันที่เรา doubt กับเส้นทางชีวิตของตัวเองฮะ
Disrupt Yourself: Master Relentless Change and Speed Up Your Learning Curve คือหนังสือจำพวกหลังสุด
หนังสือเล่มนี้พูดกับเราว่าทำไมคุณถึงควร Disrupt career path และชีวิตตัวเอง เมื่อไหร่ที่คุณควรจะทำมัน คุณต้องเตรียมตัวเตรียมใจกับอะไรบ้างในการกระโจนออกจาก comfort zone ของคุณ และอุปสรรคใดบ้างที่คุณต้องเจอข้างหน้า
ฟังดูก็เหมือนเนื้อหาใน Self-help How to ธรรมดาใช่ไหมล่ะ
แต่ความเจ๋งของหนังสือเล่มนี้คือ ผู้เขียนไม่ได้เขียนแค่ด้านสว่างของการออกจาก comfort zone ไง เธอเองก็เขียนถึงด้านที่ไม่สวยงามของมันด้วยเหมือนกัน
และสิ่งที่เธอเน้นย้ำในหนังสือเล่มนี้คือเมื่อคุณตัดสินใจที่กระโดออกจาก comfort zone ของตัวเอง คุณอาจจะเจออุปสรรคยากๆ ที่ทำให้คุณอยากถอยกลับไปอยู่ใน Comfort zone หรือคุณอาจจะล้มเหลวไม่เป็นท่ากับการกระโดดออกมาก็ได้
ใช่แล้วฮะ ทุกเรื่องไม่ได้มีแค่ด้านสวยงาม ไม่ได้มีแต่ความสำเร็จรออยู่ข้างหน้า
แต่สิ่งสำคัญที่สุดคือการยอมรับความผิดพลาดพ่ายแพ้ พยายามแก้ไขปัญหาและอดทนจนถึงที่สุด ปล่อยวางเมื่อถึงเวลา และเดินหน้าต่อไป
และสำหรับเรา หนังสือเล่มนี้ควรค่าแก่การซื้อมาเพื่ออ่านแล้วอ่านเล่าในวันที่เรา doubt กับเส้นทางชีวิตของตัวเองฮะ
May 1, 2022
Last year I reached a tipping point and realized that my self-worth was solely defined by my career. Over the past year, I have endeavored to disrupt myself to shed this mindset and redefine my path.
Whitney Johnson’s book, Disrupt Yourself, helps you explore the frameworks of disruptive innovation and how they might apply to you. She introduces the concept of taking the S-Curve and how to apply it to your own career.
A short read, it’s packed with great insights and tips to apply the concepts in your own life and work. I highly recommend this book to anyone ready to disrupt themselves!
· Chap 1: Take the Right Risks: Focus on taking the right risks and changing the way you look at risks. (What if I DON’T take the risk?)
· Chap 2: Play to Your Distinctive Strengths: Identify what makes you unique? You may not realize your strengths as we often take them for granted.
· Chap 3: Embrace Constraints: We can often challenge ourselves with a constraint. Either time, money, or another constraint that encourages us to stretch in another direction.
· Chap 4: Battle Entitlement: Seek out differing points of view, practice gratitude, and focus on serving others.
· Chap 5: Step Back to Grow: Careers are rarely a straight ladder. We can benefit from a shift to another role, industry, or challenge. And this often takes a sidestep or even a step back to go forward.
· Chap 6: Give Failure its Due: Failure is never fun but refocusing our reaction to a learning mindset shifts our focus to one of learning from our mistakes.
· Chap 7: Be Discovery Driven: We can’t always see past the next few steps. Take the leap even when you can’t see the result. It’s all about the journey!
There are a series of supporting podcasts available to supplement the book (in the Introduction to the New Edition, just before the main Introduction). I found they made for a richer, deeper, and more meaningful experience.
Whitney Johnson’s book, Disrupt Yourself, helps you explore the frameworks of disruptive innovation and how they might apply to you. She introduces the concept of taking the S-Curve and how to apply it to your own career.
A short read, it’s packed with great insights and tips to apply the concepts in your own life and work. I highly recommend this book to anyone ready to disrupt themselves!
· Chap 1: Take the Right Risks: Focus on taking the right risks and changing the way you look at risks. (What if I DON’T take the risk?)
· Chap 2: Play to Your Distinctive Strengths: Identify what makes you unique? You may not realize your strengths as we often take them for granted.
· Chap 3: Embrace Constraints: We can often challenge ourselves with a constraint. Either time, money, or another constraint that encourages us to stretch in another direction.
· Chap 4: Battle Entitlement: Seek out differing points of view, practice gratitude, and focus on serving others.
· Chap 5: Step Back to Grow: Careers are rarely a straight ladder. We can benefit from a shift to another role, industry, or challenge. And this often takes a sidestep or even a step back to go forward.
· Chap 6: Give Failure its Due: Failure is never fun but refocusing our reaction to a learning mindset shifts our focus to one of learning from our mistakes.
· Chap 7: Be Discovery Driven: We can’t always see past the next few steps. Take the leap even when you can’t see the result. It’s all about the journey!
There are a series of supporting podcasts available to supplement the book (in the Introduction to the New Edition, just before the main Introduction). I found they made for a richer, deeper, and more meaningful experience.
June 22, 2020
Disruptive companies and ideas upend markets by doing something truly different – they see a need, an empty space waiting to be filled, and they dare to create something for which a market may not yet exist. If you want to be successful in unexpected ways, follow your own disruptive path. Dare to innovate. Dream big dreams. Do something astonishing. Disrupt yourself.
I heard a podcast where Whitney Johnson was interviewed and was interested in finding out more about her theory on personal disruption and how it can help you succeed. In reading the book, I found it was geared to someone in the work force who is looking to create a space to succeed, but I enjoyed the reading and thought maybe it could even apply to your personal life. An interesting concept and a fast read.
I heard a podcast where Whitney Johnson was interviewed and was interested in finding out more about her theory on personal disruption and how it can help you succeed. In reading the book, I found it was geared to someone in the work force who is looking to create a space to succeed, but I enjoyed the reading and thought maybe it could even apply to your personal life. An interesting concept and a fast read.
April 7, 2021
A light read on how personal disruption follows the famed "S-curve" of learning defined through a 7-step framework that the author, Whitney Johnson, experienced as part of her life journey, from a career analyst to CEO & Founder of WLJ Advisors. While the concept of disruptive innovation has been largely commented/written upon from a entity/industry perspective, what sets apart Whitney's book is the individual perspective she brings. Some of the examples are familiar from reading similar books and her constant reference to Clayton M Christensen, as a mentor and expert of disruptive innovation topic, builds on Whitney's image of expertise & experience to comment on the topic. Loved reading this book!
July 15, 2020
My personal theme in life: *In search of excellence*
Measure yourself by:
1. Fulfillment
2. Authenticity
3. Character
4. Excellence
5. Being at peace with yourself
The last is my greatest focus - this is what gives me my greatest drive.
If my work or occupation doesn't give me a sense of peace then it's not worth my time and attention; I disrupt myself always to find peace.
We've all got the right to choose the path of our life - choose wisely.
The book is a *disruptor*: it will shake your belief systems and push you to reassess your life goals routinely. This is the kind of mindset I seek to always embrace.
Measure yourself by:
1. Fulfillment
2. Authenticity
3. Character
4. Excellence
5. Being at peace with yourself
The last is my greatest focus - this is what gives me my greatest drive.
If my work or occupation doesn't give me a sense of peace then it's not worth my time and attention; I disrupt myself always to find peace.
We've all got the right to choose the path of our life - choose wisely.
The book is a *disruptor*: it will shake your belief systems and push you to reassess your life goals routinely. This is the kind of mindset I seek to always embrace.
October 23, 2023
I remember going to a bookstore and deciding to buy this book when I felt stuck and needed a map to learn better. Yet I never knew this book helped me to speed up my learning process.
It wasn't easy to adapt to the era of pace face environment, and sometimes it could be overwhelming. Whitney illustrates seven frameworks that I discovered very insightful and help us to focus on the right measurement and encourage us to achieve more.
This book gives me much self-reflection. When you read this book, you will find that each chapter succeeds to delivers value. A must-have read book to every professional out there!
It wasn't easy to adapt to the era of pace face environment, and sometimes it could be overwhelming. Whitney illustrates seven frameworks that I discovered very insightful and help us to focus on the right measurement and encourage us to achieve more.
This book gives me much self-reflection. When you read this book, you will find that each chapter succeeds to delivers value. A must-have read book to every professional out there!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 28, 2017
A clear and concise guide to disruptive innovation. The author writes clearly and uses a wide range of examples. The book is mostly for business-related fields. While it may have other applications the author couches it mostly in the business/finance market and doesn't do much exploring of how this can be applied to someone's personal life. Wonderful examples that illustrate her points are throughout the book along with amusing anecdotes from her own life. The author speaks from a lot of personal experience in each chapter and can identify with the reader.
September 10, 2017
While this comment sounds like a collection of marketing sound-bites, the work is really a good read for challenging your current mindset. I went into this book looking as a way to achieve better results, but came away looking at ways to tear down the concepts of my skill sets to better package myself. In reframing my accomplishments from the "slaying the dragons" of yesterday into presenting myself as a resource of ideas and innovation. The book and podcasts are not specifically a "how to" prescriptive, but the examples help to better recognise what may work better for my self branding.
June 11, 2022
The author made it confusing to differentiate between business disruption and self disruption.
Even the examples here were mix of both.
The core of disrupting yourself content could only need 40 pages to drive it home but it dragged on and on with examples.
I learned something out of this book, of course. But I think you could gain the same insights just by skimming through the numbered lists in each chapter of this book, which were the only new parts derived from business disruption concept.
Even the examples here were mix of both.
The core of disrupting yourself content could only need 40 pages to drive it home but it dragged on and on with examples.
I learned something out of this book, of course. But I think you could gain the same insights just by skimming through the numbered lists in each chapter of this book, which were the only new parts derived from business disruption concept.
March 8, 2020
Nothing new. Many better books. No principles.
CHAPTER 1 Take the Right Risks
CHAPTER 2 Play to Your Distinctive Strengths
CHAPTER 3 Embrace Constraints
CHAPTER 4 Battle Entitlement, the Innovation Killer
CHAPTER 5 Step Down, Back, or Sideways to Grow
CHAPTER 6 Give Failure Its Due
CHAPTER 7 Be Driven by Discovery (DDP)
The chapter titles are all the auther tells you.
CHAPTER 1 Take the Right Risks
CHAPTER 2 Play to Your Distinctive Strengths
CHAPTER 3 Embrace Constraints
CHAPTER 4 Battle Entitlement, the Innovation Killer
CHAPTER 5 Step Down, Back, or Sideways to Grow
CHAPTER 6 Give Failure Its Due
CHAPTER 7 Be Driven by Discovery (DDP)
The chapter titles are all the auther tells you.
May 7, 2020
If you’ve been sitting on the sidelines, hesitating to make a significant change in your life, this book may be the fuel you need. Whether you’re disrupting markets with a business or putting your life on a new track, let the seven key practices Johnson describes here guide you as you climb the s-curve of innovation and growth.
It's clearly written, succinctly argued, and entirely inspiring.
It's clearly written, succinctly argued, and entirely inspiring.
July 13, 2020
I liked the transference of insight from business disruption to personal disruption. This was a short book, but gave some valuable insights. It was more suggestive than instructive, and could have worked harder to produce a framework for disruption... but maybe that's the point - disruption removes those frameworks and requires you to grow in the midst of the awkwardness and uncertainty.
December 30, 2021
A quick book to read with a few good takeaways, but its more something to read if you want some inspiration while at a junction in your life - should I go for it, should I not sort of moment, not in a motivating you are awesome, you can do anything, but more a take a step back, evaluate, look at where your concerns and excitement lie and go from there. Very timely for me.
August 27, 2022
Mediocre at best.
The author has taken concepts from Clayton Christensen's books around disruptive innovation and has rephrased them for personal growth along with some examples. Not sure if it is force-fitted or this b0ok actually is translatable to real life advice. Read the source directly (Clayton christensen) and form you own understanding vs reading this.
The author has taken concepts from Clayton Christensen's books around disruptive innovation and has rephrased them for personal growth along with some examples. Not sure if it is force-fitted or this b0ok actually is translatable to real life advice. Read the source directly (Clayton christensen) and form you own understanding vs reading this.
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