Rethink Disruption: Why Big Companies Should Self-Cannibalize or Risk Irrelevance

Kodak invented the digital camera in 1975, but for decades its executives dismissed the risk, fearing harm to lucrative film sales. By the time rivals took digital mainstream, Kodak—once an American icon—was fighting for survival. Meanwhile, Apple repeatedly replaced its own best-selling products (iPod, MacBook) with something newer from within. The iPhone made the iPod nearly obsolete, but Apple’s market share and relevance soared.

The lesson? Keeping old products alive at the cost of progress doesn’t protect businesses, it quietly kills them. Inside major corporations, it’s rarely lack of creativity that’s the problem, but lack of permission to challenge the core revenue driver. Studies show that internal champions—sometimes called corporate rebels—are the strongest predictors of future success, so long as their efforts are supported before external threats appear. The world’s leading companies carve out budgets, staff, and even spin-off units to disrupt themselves on purpose.

It can be uncomfortable. Sometimes the first try flops, or entrenched leaders resist. But intentionally self-disrupting—auditing and overhauling your own weaknesses—is always less costly and less painful than waiting for the wave of change to come from outside.

Decide today to make space—literally and financially—for someone at your organization, school, or in your own workflow to ask, 'What would put us out of business?' Don’t fear discomfort. Invite tough questions, encourage outside-the-box projects, and launch one initiative meant to challenge your core offering. If it doesn’t work, you learn fast and adapt; if it succeeds, you grow instead of getting left behind.