In this presentation, Walter V. Murray (CPA, DBA, PhD) explains why disruptive thinkers on a team are often mischaracterized as troublemakers and how leaders can turn their disruptive energy into a strategic advantage. He introduces the concept of disruptive innovation—originally defined by Clayton Christensen—as a lens for understanding how disruption can fuel growth and competitiveness not only in markets but also within an organization’s micro‑environment. Murray outlines three main reasons disruptors are misunderstood: (1) leaders’ personal security concerns that conflate disagreement with challenges to authority; (2) the absence of formal processes or cultures that welcome disagreement; and (3) the tendency to default to conflict‑resolution mode, which restores the status quo and consequently extinguishes disruptive potential. He contrasts conflict resolution (aimed at smoothing over differences) with disruption management (aimed at fostering revolutionary change). Finally, he previews practical techniques from his online training “How to Disagree and Still Get Things Done Fast,” offering concrete steps leaders can take to recognize, cultivate, and leverage disruptive team members without fracturing collaborative culture.
Chapters
Sometimes as leaders and managers, we are fortunate to have disruptive thinkers on our team, but unfortunately, they are often misunderstood, mislabeled, and as a leader/manager, we lose the opportunities to harness what is a very valuable asset on our team. The disruptive team member. As a leader, how do you lead, manage, cultivate the disruptor on your team? The term disruptive innovation was first coined by Christensen, a Harvard Business School professor. Christensen used the concept in context of disruptive innovation. It's a concept that focused on the marketplace dynamics innovation and growth, and ultimately marketplace competitiveness. Christensen sees disruption as a way to keep a market space alive, an industry alive. And the same concept can be applied to an organization on a micro level within an organization. I see disruptive innovation using some of the same concepts that are applied on a macro level within the market space. Leaders and managers can use disruption as a way to achieve innovation and growth within their team, within the organization, and ultimately position their companies to be more competitive in the macro, macro space. But sometimes, like I said earlier, we are fortunate to have people on our team who have that innate and intrinsic intuitive ability to disrupt. And we often label them as troublemakers, people who just can't get along, people who are not part of the status quo. And that's one of the hallmarks of a disruptor is that disruption shakes the status quo. That's what it's, the core, that's what it does. It shakes the status quo, shakes things up. I call it a revolution. Disruption is like a revolution. And how do you manage and lead people who tend to be revolutionaries, right, within your team and still not fracture the team collaborative culture that is so important to a successful organization? How do you balance those two diametrically opposed tensions within your organization. So a couple of reasons why some leaders misunderstand the disruptor. For one thing, it's a matter of security, personal security. Every disagreement, every disagreement is not a challenge to your authority. And so some leaders have a hard time distinguishing between a disruptor who is seeking innovation and growth versus someone who is challenging their position as a leader. Being able to step back and see the disruptor as not necessarily challenging your position as CEO or president, but they're simply trying to challenge a status quo within the organization is, uh, A very important mindset to have to be able to recognize and to begin to lead the disruptor on your team. Another reason why sometimes disruptors are misunderstood, mislabeled, is that there's no formalized process or culture that embraces disagreement and disruption. I always tell leaders when I have workshops and seminars is to embrace it, embrace differences, embrace disagreements, embrace disruption, because it could be your greatest asset to move your organization, move your team from average to above average, from above average to excellent. One of the most powerful tools to ignite performance, productivity, and change. Another reason why sometimes the disruptor is misunderstood is that disruption invariably brings some type of conflict. What happens is Leaders and managers go into conflict resolution mode when that happens. And that sort of makes sense, right? The problem with going into conflict resolution mode is that disruption dies with resolution. Because what resolution seeks to do is to smooth things over and regain the status quo. For the most part, that's what resolution does. Disruption, on the other hand, dies in that type of atmosphere because disruption seeks revolution. Revolution is massive innovation. Revolution is massive upheaval of current organizational culture, current organizational values, but ultimately lead to a better outcome, a more effective outcome, a more competitive outcome. So that while the leader is focused on resolving conflict, seeking resolution. Inadvertently, they are stifling disruption because the way to manage disruption is to seek revolution, whereas the way to manage conflict is to seek resolution, and they are two diametrically opposed outcomes. So let me give you a couple of ways that you could recognize and maximize the disruptor on your team. In my online training, How to Disagree and Still Get Things Done Fast, we go over a slew of different techniques and strategies to, to take disagreement or disruption to the next level, which is innovation and growth. Let me just give you a couple of things right now that could help you recognize and maximize disruption within your team. One is
