Innovation is More Than Just Disrupting Industries

Many companies make “disruption” their goal. They believe if they just develop the right innovation, they will disrupt their markets forever and drive the kind of growth worthy of a magazine cover story. But that’s not how disruption works. Disruption doesn’t create growth; growth creates disruption. While growth is always hard, disruptive growth is exponentially harder. It requires companies to make tough decisions in the face of daunting uncertainties.

The Tech Industry & Enterprise Track of the SXSW Conference gives a home to these conversations as well as conversations surrounding cutting edge software and hardware ventures and technology-driven products and services in the B2B and B2C marketplaces. Convene with innovators and executives from companies of all sizes – because when companies focus on building internally instead of only on disrupting existing industries they achieve true growth.

Subverting the Status Quo in Existing Industries

A telecoms evolution is long overdue. New P2P and blockchain technology has the potential to create a vast wireless network that’s owned and operated by the people, not by behemoth telecom companies. Adi Arul (Emrit, Inc.), Jill Carson (Slow Ventures), Amir Haleem (Helium), and Teena Maddox (TechRepublic) expand on how in this modern, connected world the countless low-bandwidth IoT devices that need network connectivity – like pet collars, ride share scooters, and sensors that monitor air and water quality – can work around expensive data plans that are designed for much higher bandwidth devices and are controlled by large telecos who charge indiscriminately and can artificially reduce speed or access to data in Can the Telecoms Industry Be Disrupted?.

How can leaders of disruptive change within legacy organizations enact and sustain change from within, in the face of long-standing organizational challenges in the workplace? Christie Dames (TechTalk/Studio), Sandy Fershee (Ford Motor Company), Lisa Gansky (Instigating), and Erin Meezan (Interface, Inc.) talk design thinking, courageous leaders, human needs, empowered teams, and working together as part of the new toolkit emerging for redesign and lasting change inside legacy organizations in Transformational Change in Legacy Companies. Change happens both from the inside out and outside in. How you deconstruct the past, discern key points of focus, and use insights coupled with intuition create the path to important and lasting change.

Focusing on Disruption Alone Isn't Enough

In The Disruption Mindset: Why Some Organizations Transform While Others Fail, bestselling author Charlene Li (Altimeter a Prophet Company) will share what it means to be a disruptive leader and drive exponential growth. Disruption demands bold leadership and, often, massive cultural transformation. To be on the right side of that disruption requires having a growth strategy that aligns the entire organization around the future customer experience, as well as the leadership and culture to execute that strategy.

An interactive dialogue by three global leaders from the ngo, public, and private sectors, Hacking the System: Disrupting Tech's Status Quo contemplates the current corporate paradigm of thinking in today's technology workplace setting in the U.S. and beyond. Addressing topics around future of work, re-skilling/up-skilling, the impact of rapid technology changes, and inclusion, answers will be sought on how to enact change and cultivate an environment that embraces risk-taking, diverse thinking, and innovative solutions to enable an organization's growth. Led by Holly Flanagan (Gabriel Investments), G. Nagesh Rao (US Small Business Administration), Dina Sherif (The Legatum Center), and Adelmise Warner (Pandora-Sirius XM) – this panel examines what best practices work in each environment from policy implementation to playbooks to experimental pilots that help piecemeal adaptation to a changing work environment over time.

Continue the Conversations with Industry Experts and Likeminded Individuals

New and innovative technologies help the energy industry become more efficient, safer and smarter, thereby contributing to more sustainable solutions for producers and consumers alike. The Technologies Renewing the Energy Industry Meet Up, facilitated by Anne Ekern (ONS Foundation) and Francois Laborie (Cognite), dives into the current waves of change emanating from inside the energy industry as technologies not traditionally associated with the sector create a booming market for new technologies and an eagerness for learning and innovation. The industry is ready for disruption to existing business models, with a lot to be learned from participants.

More On Innovation Beyond Disruption

Sessions covering these topics don't only happen in the Tech Industry & Enterprise Track. These other sessions from across the 22 tracks of Conference programming, relate back to emergent technology and disruptive innovation, too.

• How Consumers are Disrupting Social Media in 2020 | Advertising & Brand Experience
• Elect Tech 2020 | Government & Politics
• Health Isn't the Hospital | Health & MedTech
• Harnessing VR in Space, Global Health, & Neurotech | Fantastic Future

Browse More Tech Industry & Enterprise Track Sessions

For more on the ever evolving landscape of technology driven products and services in the B2B and B2C marketplaces, browse through the Tech Industry & Enterprise Track sessions.

This Interactive Track gives primary access to Platinum and Interactive Badges while Film and Music Badges enjoy secondary access.

Across our 22 tracks of Conference programming, browse all sessions on the SXSW Schedule and add events to your Favorites list to start planning your SX adventure.

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Featured Image by Steve Rogers Photography/Getty Images for SXSW