Disruption used to be clear.
A new entrant appears, lowering market entry barriers — democratizing access. Cheaper. Simpler. Good enough. Then it gets better. Then it takes the market.
It’s the pattern so brilliantly captured by Clayton Christensen — and echoed by many others since: disruption starts small, where incumbents aren’t looking, and eventually redefines the game.
That playbook shaped how we built, defended, and measured business models for decades.
But something’s changed.
In 2025 — and certainly by 2035 — disruption doesn’t just hit product categories.
It hits mental models, institutions, identities.
Markets aren’t just shifting. They’re fracturing.
Customers aren’t just switching. They’re redefining value itself.
And innovation isn’t about novelty anymore. It’s about relevance under pressure.
This essay explores the emerging patterns I see — not as a replacement for past frameworks, but as a next layer for those building the future.
From Product Advantage to Paradigm Shift
In earlier disruption theory, success was often about entering from below.
Un(der)served outcomes for existing and new segments. Lower performance. Higher accessibility.
But today’s disruptors aren’t competing on price or performance.
They compete on paradigm and identity.
They question the whole premise:
Why do I need a job?
Why do I need an office?
Why do I need a degree, a boss, a bank, a roadmap…?
The new disruptors don’t just steal market share.
They rewire why the market exists in the first place.
By the time these shifts show up in your dashboards, you’re already behind.
Relevance Is the New Differentiator
The real competitive edge is no longer product innovation.
It’s meaning clarity — and systemic fit.
If people don’t see how your solution helps them make real progress in a changing world, no growth hack will save you.
The central questions are shifting from:
“What do people want?” → “What feels like progress now?”
“What market are we in?” → “What future are we aligned with?”
The patterns I see point to a new set of strategic challenges — and capabilities we’ll need to build.
Before we go deeper, here's where the terrain begins to shift for most organizations:
1. Disruption Doesn’t Knock at the Door. It Recodes
Disruption today often looks less like a new entrant — and more like a cultural or behavioral pivot:
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