Too radical, too innovative, too fast: why Tesla could fail

04/20/2018

Too radical, too innovative, too fast For what Tesla could fail

An opinion made by Jens-Uwe Meyer

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The term “digital disruption” – the radical change of business models and markets through the digitization – may currently be missing from any specialist conference. From A like Automotive Industry to Z like dentist guild there is no industry that does not deal with it. A distinction is made between digital transformation, which gradually transforms analog business models and processes into digital ones, and digital disruption, a process that radically redefines markets and industries.

Single, double and triple disruption

Jens-Uwe Meyer

Dr. Jens-Uwe Meyer is Managing Director of Innolytics GmbH. With nine books (including “Radical Innovation”, “Digital Disruption”) and more than 100 specialist articles, he is one of the most committed innovators in the German-speaking world. He advises medium-sized companies and corporations.
www.jens-uwe-meyer.de

But even with disruptors, there are differences: Although Airbnb has radically redefined the space-brokerage market, this is “just” a simple disruption because the underlying technology does not have the potential to disrupt entire industries.

The smartphone revolution was triggered by a double disruption: Apple invented not only the iPhone, but the associated ecosystem for developers with an app store connected.

The US electric car maker Tesla goes even further and tries a triple disruption:

1. a technological disruption for the automobile including a charging station network
2. The disruption of automobile production in a consequence that no other manufacturer has ever produced
3. the digital disruption of driving itself through the development of autonomous vehicles.

Exactly at this triple Disruption Rittberger Tesla threatens to fail. Sometimes accidents with autonomously driving cars make the company negative headlines, sometimes they are Problems with the production,

Many companies are already overwhelmed by a disruption – Tesla wants three

What a contrast: While German companies are there, through instruments like one Digital Readiness Check To analyze whether they even have the potential for simple disruption, Tesla seems to be light years ahead: the simple disruption is not enough, it must be threefold.

Imagine you want to create a new circus attraction. A high wire with a pirouette on the figure skating – without security. That alone would be enough disruption for the circus industry. But you do not want to be content with that: you want to perform your feat on a transparent, only two millimeters thick rope – a technical disruption.

Nobody has ever tried to find out if this rope is suitable for circus artistry. And because you find all your suppliers too expensive, you take over the production of this rope at the same time. Of course you do not rely on existing solutions, but you want to redefine the production landscape of the rope industry. That’s what you have to imagine, what Tesla Show stock market chart just doing.

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