If disruption fosters creativity through innovation, is there a way in which a manager or leader, unbeknownst to his or her team, can actually program disruptions into brainstorming exercises, program test runs, drills, and actual operations? If the leader were kept out of the loop by having the nature and duration of these disruptions timed utilizing a random number generator such that no one would know the time, nature or extent of these disruptions, and the leader of the team could not reveal with any non-verbal 'tells" (messages) that disruption was about to occur?
The underlying assumption behind these philosophical-sounding questions is that disruption, similar to a progressive resistance exercise (and muscular 'confusion') at the gym, builds and strengthens the "muscles" of innovation, creativity, flexibility, contingency planning and problem solving.
The unasked question, which could only be answered by experimentation is this:
Q: Just how much, what frequency of occurrence, and what types of disruption cause so much entropy or disorder, that systems begin to fall apart instead of getting stronger?
Using the analogy of the body-builder, if he or she over-exercises without adequate recovery time, he or she begins to lose coordination and burns off muscular tissue. How much disruption is beneficial, and how much has the potential to invite crisis management, chaos and defective decision making?
Planned And Unplanned Disruption For Self-Growth, Organizational Development And Strengthening.
Think about it. Think about how we'd test it.
Douglas E Castle for the Disruption And Disruptive Innovation Blog
