Disruptive or Innovative?
Disruption and innovation are two sides of the same coin; it just depends on who came up with the idea.
Touching down in more than 120 countries, Terry Jones shared his worldly views Nov. 2 with a captive audience of Angus breeders at the 2019 Angus Convention in Reno, Nev. What caught the cattlemen’s attention? Jones’ buzzword: disruption.
For many in the audience, thoughts immediately went to social media and the intrusive cell phone. Jones was quick to explain the concept of disruption and why producers should embrace it.
“Things are moving fast, and it’s connectivity that’s made things move so fast,” Jones said. “The telephone took 75 years to reach 50 million users. Pokémon Go only took 15 days to reach that number.”
In 2008, Blockbuster’s CEO wasn’t worried about looming streaming systems. Just 10 years later, Blockbuster closed its doors permanently.
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“If you don’t like change; you’ll like irrelevance even less,” said Terry Jones. Adaptability is becoming the name of the game even in cattle country. |
What that CEO viewed as a disruption was an innovation for Netflix. It’s that manner of thinking that clinched Blockbuster’s fate and everything Jones encouraged convention attendees to avoid.
Jones challenged producers to think outside the box when it comes to revolutionizing the Angus cow. Production doesn’t typically change much from one generation to the next, but Jones predicted that won’t be an option anymore.
“Over the next five years we will see as much change as we have seen in the last 70,” Max Armstrong said as he introduced Jones.
In a world where “this is how we’ve always done things” prevails, Jones told breeders to follow his lead when it comes to risk.
“I started my career as a receptionist for a travel agency almost 50 years ago,” Jones said. His career quickly evolved into becoming an entrepreneur when he saw an avenue for recreating the travel agency system.
He is the founder and former CEO of Travelocity. That’s just one of three other successful startups Jones has launched in his 70-year life. His most recent startup was a failure, he said, but that’s not something Jones frowns upon.
“Failure is ok,” Jones said. “It’s an open door. You don’t have to totally fail, but you do have to experiment. At Kayak.com 20% of what you see every day is a test. We are constantly failing and continuously learning.”
Jones introduced 10 forces of digital disruption: connectivity, big data, internet of things (IOT), mobility, robotics, drones, artificial intelligence (the other AI), virtual reality, 3D printing and AI becoming the new user interface.
Though the internet might appear to be the heartbeat of these disruptions, it’s the perspective of the cattleman that makes the difference.
“If you don’t like change; you’ll like irrelevance even less,” Jones said. Adaptability is becoming the name of the game even in cattle country.
Drones fly parallel to mounted cattlemen as the two check cattle; tractors are plowing fields but harbor no driver; fitness tracking-like bands are becoming commonplace on cattle pasterns. The point Jones was making was this: Don’t let some kid in Silicon Valley steal your business.
“Disruption and innovation are just two sides of the same coin,” Jones said. Innovations are only viewed as a disruption when that organization didn’t do it. If the coin were flipped and you had the brilliant idea, it wouldn’t be considered a disruption at all.
Most people know where they are headed, but getting there is the hardest part. Jones encouraged Angus breeders to adapt to the technology that could get them there.
“If you come together as a trade association — which you have done — you are collectively smarter than any startup,” Jones said. “You just have to stop saying no and realize that in the 21st century you have to take risks. Saying yes is hard; saying no is easy.”
Editor’s note: Lindsay King was the assistant editor for the Angus Journal. Photo by Eric Mull.
