Disrupt You! - Jay Samit

Big ideas, little initiatives. Why don’t companies buy ideas that can transform the market? Learn everything you need to know to change your life with the book “Disrupt You!”, written by Jay Samit.

As technology advances, we see new products being launched on the market. Sometimes, some of these have the potential to change the whole way the market works. And even beyond: the way we think.

But one idea isn’t enough to make the world change. It requires strategy, testing, dedication, and initiative. And one more factor: being disruptive!

In a world of constant change, it is ironic that there are huge companies that care too much about the status quo and less about transformative ideas. But the change on the outside starts with the change on the inside.

Got interested about this topic? Stay with us in this book summary!

The book “Disrupt You!”

“Disrupt You!” brings essential advice to people who have great ideas but don’t know how to execute them. The book explains how plan strategies are important for the professional and personal development of companies.

The book is based on the experiences and insights of the renowned leading author of technological innovations, Jay Samit, and personalities and brands such as Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, YouTube, Cirque du Soleil, Odor Eaters, Iams, Silly Putty, and many others.

The book has 304 pages and it seeks to demystify the mechanisms of disruption for those who are afraid to adapt and change.

Who is Jay Samit?

Jay Samit is a leader in technological innovation and has leveraged the performance of several startups. He is CEO of SeaChange International, a leading software company for multiscreen video playback.

He is also an associate professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Southern California, USA, and was described by Wired magazine as the person who “has the coolest job in the industry”.

In addition, he has served as a senior consultant for LinkedIn and worked in partnerships with large companies such as Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Apple, Verizon, Facebook and McDonald’s.

A curiosity of Jay Samit is that former U.S. President Bill Clinton has already appointed him to serve in the White House education and technology initiative.

Why should I read “Disrupt You!”?

The author, Jay Samit, recommends this book for people who want to develop big ideas to disrupt the status quo. And, indeed, that is what the book is all about: seize opportunities and prosper in your life!

What can I learn from “Disrupt You!”?

• What you have to do to become disruptive;
• Planning is essential to cause disruption;
• Large companies care more about the status quo and less about market changes (and why this is a vulnerability);
• Why some original ideas fail and some ideas inspired by others succeed;
• How to be disruptive in the Sales and Marketing link;
• Being disruptive collectively empowers people to transform the world.

In this book summary of “Disrupt You!”, we will address the main points to get rid of the fear of change from within and transform the world with your innovative ideas. Shall we go for it?

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How to become disruptive?

Disruption goes side by side with innovation, but Jay Samit explains the difference between them. Innovation seeks to improve the development of an existing product by applying new ideas to improve it. The disruption goes a little further than that.

The disruptive process almost always happens due to a technological change. It changes the way the world works and how we think. A disruptive idea usually triggers several other disruptive events.

The author exemplifies the Laserdisc as an innovative idea, but not disruptive. The creation of the Laserdisc brought to the market a product much less fragile and with more quality than a VCR.

However, the VHS has changed the way we watch TV, while the Laserdisc has only entered the same market as the VCR, bringing more improvements.

And no wonder that idea didn’t work out. The author explain:

"True disruption forever alters a market or a system."

It must have a transforming action, creating a new market. And to become disruptive, you must start with yourself:

• Remove from you all the obstacles that prevent you from progressing in life;
• Get out of your comfort zone;
• Allow yourself to be a walking metamorphosis.

"The mind is everything. What you think, you become."

The art of being disruptive is tied to the ability to extract an opportunity at each obstacle. It’s not about what happens to you, but how you react to these events.

"Accepting that the odds are against you is the same as accepting defeat before it even starts."

It’s important to have a plan to be disruptive. Building this state of mind demands reflecting how you think about your achievements, desires and inspirations, both within your career and outside it.

Keep in mind that time doesn’t stop. Life is too short to not take risks and live up to the expectations of others. Samit recommends that you work backwards with each deadline and develop gradual deadlines.

"The difference between successful and unsuccessful people is that successful people know that the most useless thing to do is to make excuses."

How to persuade your company to buy your disruptive ideas?

Jay Samit says you need to recognize who you are in the business world: are you a disruptive or a “dinosaur”?

He says that companies are so interested in the competition that they forget about the disruptive companies that may emerge. And sadder: they are so focused on being more efficient in what they do that they end up creating resistance to changes in the market.

"The business world is full of fossils of companies that have failed to evolve. Cause the disruption or suffer it. There's no middle ground."

The culture of the market is based on a safe process. Companies prefer to spend more on doing something that they are good at, or acquiring startups, than expanding the horizons of their potential. For disruptive investors, that’s a huge advantage.

If you work in a company that doesn’t allow itself to adapt to changes, Samit reveals to you that the secret of causing disruption is getting what you want, doing what they think they want.

Convince them of your disruptive idea as if it was just one more of the same. To be disruptive, you need to be persuasive.

When you think you have a great idea, you should analyze it critically. Look for weaknesses to find a way to eliminate your vulnerabilities. That way, the market won’t be able to destroy it.

"Kill your great idea. If you can find a problem that will misrepresent it, the market will do the same."

The author says you can do whatever you want, as long as you have someone willing to pay for it.

And of course, transforming the market is a super skill that requires caution. To deal with turbulence, you should always make small adjustments to your idea and not get lost from your destiny.

"Testing, checking and adjusting is the only way not to deviate from course. Dices have no ego, and that makes them the perfect copilot."

You may be disappointed sometimes, but you must also accept the truth to do better!

Reuse, readapt, recreate

There are a lot of people who spend a lot of time and money running in circles with no idea what they are doing. A disruptive idea need not be the creation of something that didn’t exist before. As Jay Samit said, disruption is here to change market thinking.

"Disruptors don't need to discover something new; they just need to discover a practical use for new discoveries."

Samit correlates his point of view with a brand of modeling dough. Silly Putty took advantage of the research and development of others and profited a lot by launching a toy that could take on any shape you wanted.

"Disruption can be a consequence of the re-use, retrofitting and recycling of others' R&D to arrive at new products, in categories never imagined by their creators."

But you should be aware that globalization and easy access to information make it difficult to protect rights to investments in intellectual property, says the author.

Product piracy may be more frequent now, with the 3D printer revolution. So, the book “Disrupt You!” predicts that this may impact the way copyright and trade secret laws protect each other within a decade.

And it adds that those who stick to the status quo will be outdated.

"Those who recognize the inevitability of change will benefit most."

How does disruption happen in marketing and sales?

"The essence of all sales and marketing: create demand, even if it lacks logic."

The author states that in order to disrupt the sales link it is not necessary to create a new advertising campaign, or a totally different and innovative product. Executing the sale under a different approach may be a potential disruptive idea.

How can that be done? The disruptive act can attack the sales link through new sales strategies, which can involve:

• Price;
• Content;
• Communication channels;
• New business models.

"The differentiation of the sales model can be as powerful as the differentiation of the product itself."

Jay Samit also states that to be disruptive, you must care about what your consumers and employees think and feel about your brand, through advertising and interaction with the public.

How to be disruptive in the Age of Collectivity?

The book “Disrupt You!” explains that collective collaboration is changing ideas, access to information and the economy. And it shows it with the following statement:

"The final disruption, because in a very zen way, the content is controlled by everyone and nobody at the same time."

The collectivity that the Internet causes generates infinite possibilities to capture value and revolutionize the business areas. Such a revolution can generate more disruptions, as well as more opportunities.

Disruption, in turn, goes beyond products, business and technology. With collective power, it can influence countries, education and even political regimes.

"For each of us, the real challenge is to determine where we can make the greatest impact."

Collaborating collectively can unleash a new disruptive power. Adding talent, capital and initiatives is a powerful action that, if used wisely, can solve the problems that humanity has faced today.

The truth is that disruption can transform the landscape of all sectors. Including solving social issues, scarcity of resources such as water and even global warming. For this to happen, it is enough for each one of us to channel our energies and initiative to where we want to make a difference.

Other books about change and innovation

In the book “Dream Big”, Cristiane Correa complements the idea of personal strategic planning and emphasizes the importance of maintaining a continuous improvement process to achieve your objectives.

Daniel Goleman, author of the book “Emotional Intelligence”, explains that IQ contributes only 20% to his success in life. The rest is the result of emotional intelligence, which includes factors such as the ability to motivate oneself, persistence, impulse control, mood regulation, empathy and hope.

In the field of persuasion, the book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” brings a series of teachings on how to stand out in personal relationships. The author Dale Carnegie defends the importance of gaining people’s trust to convince them of his ideas.

How can I be disruptive in life and business?

• Get organized: put your wishes and deadlines on paper (Jay Samit separates an entire chapter to talk about the Disruptive Map);
• Promote your brand: talk to the public, look for people who can buy your great idea;
• Get out of your comfort zone;
• Acquire the ability to adapt to external changes and try to evolve internally with them;
• Refine your power of persuasion and convince others to invest in your idea;
• Use your power to transform the world for good.

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In addition, if you want to know all about the book, it is available for purchase by clicking in the image below: