Strategies are important whether in Business or Politics to succeed. Can innovative disruption be the answer? Neither business nor politics follow the traditional routes anymore.
Harvard Business review describes it as a process, whereby a smaller company with fewer resources, is able to successfully challenge, established incumbent businesses. As incumbents focus, on improving their products and services for their prime customers, they exceed the needs of some segments and ignore the needs of others. On the other hand, a challenger begins by successfully targeting, those overlooked segments, gaining a foothold in the process by delivering more-suitable functionality, frequently at a lower price.
Is innovative disruption in politics not similar? What is the success mantra to win elections in this season of elections? For one, take on the challengers and professionals in their own backyard. Look for overlooked societal segments, who would then become the most ardent supporters. Now recreate sustainable functionality through judicious use of technology and add value for services delivered. Even as the incumbent is left unable to compete, he will be forced to yield political space. The disruptor can now move upmarket delivering performance and value.
Whereas UBER is a classic example in business, ‘AAP’ had a fair amount of success in the past, almost annihilating the then incumbent party, the ‘Congress’, be it in Delhi or in Punjab. It appeared to have truly arrived. However, nothing is permanent, especially in politics. Success is dependant solely on performance and integrity of people and causes.
Can there be reverse disruption? Can the disrupted businesses bounce back? Or can larger parties bounce back? Congress appears WIP. BJP seems to have mastered the art.
When there seems to be a lull in the environment, the leader needs to be doubly vigilant and cause reverse disruption. He will need to create headwinds for disruption. Only then new opportunities will arrive. Political vacuum will need to be engineered. Disruption must as a rule, seek the attention of the common man or woman on the street. Currently, only BJP appears completely organized and disciplined to cause reverse disruption and exploit any opportunity that may arise.
Disruptive innovation that changes a country’s fortunes requires different strategic approaches. However, one must appreciate that the lessons one learns about succeeding as an innovative disruptor, or defending against a disruptive challenger may not apply to every social milieu in shifting aspirational value systems and expectations of imaginative youngsters. If a party gets sloppy with the implementation models or fails to integrate insights from experience into policies, then political managers will end up using the wrong tools, reducing their chances of success. Then, even innovative disruption will be less effective.
The disruption strategy masters must anticipate future trends to determine what could lift the party higher and then define a disruption platform to get them there. A bullet train, a sea plane, a roll-in roll-out ferry service, Ujjain ‘Mahakaal’ Corridor are innovations that catch the imagination and pulse of the people. Franklin Roosevelt once said. “In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way”
The current Gujarat or Himachal elections will be cases in point. We will see all the tall leaders descend on the scene of action with each one’s role, well defined with the leader always being there to lead from the front. How many times have we seen state elections taken as seriously as these?
Effective use of social media is important to innovative disruption and must trigger people’s needs. These triggers must then be interpreted real-time, to be responsive and relevant. That they plan every strategy to a ‘T’, is evident. The campaign starts with a tweet and a PR exercise, with a new thought process. Big data analytics, people profiling, AI, appropriate projection of data and people, you name it, all have been used. This is an age of empathy. Competition will never stand still. Backlash must be created every single day for innovative outcomes. Backlash must then be contained with more innovation. Political astuteness and a will to take the bull by the horn are indeed supreme virtues. BJP means business. Their innovative disruption seeks a method even in the madness.