Ever since Clayton Christensen coined the expression 'disruptive innovation' back in the mid-1990s, I've always been amazed at how many companies disrupt their marketplaces, develop disruptive products, or think in a disruptive way.
Well, I have news for you. You don't.
And you never have done, nor will you ever, because fundamentally, you don't understand what disruption means.
It's become a tiresome piece of overused jargon adopted by countless companies in the marketing and creative sectors, and I'm sure many beyond that. So let's retire it as Fast Company suggested 8 years ago and move on.
But this isn't an article about disruption. It's about our inability to define ourselves, our desire to latch onto the latest buzzwords to make us stand out, or the invention of discourse to achieve the same objective.
It's a futile exercise because trying to differentiate through convoluted language makes little difference.
360 campaign directions, a holistic approach to lead generation, and a bleeding-edge approach are the superfluous language that will never distinguish you. Nor will it make you unique because you're never going to be so in any significant way.
Don't bother trying.
It's a futile exercise because trying to differentiate through convoluted language makes little difference.
And yes, I know you have this burning desire to stand out from competitors and offer different features to different markets etc. And buzzwords can be unavoidable, but if you try hard enough, you can avoid them, offer actual value, and precisely communicate what you do in an authentic, engaging fashion.
Go on, give it a go, and I'm sure you'll fare better than your competitors.
