You remember the story of the tortoise and the hare, right? That old fable taught us that slow and steady wins the race. When it comes to business, you likely already know that the opposite is true.
The tortoises are the plodders, the followers and the ones who resist change.
Tortoises are boring. They grow their business incrementally, if at all, primarily by copying their competitors.
Tortoises get overtaken by other tortoises or wind up pulling their head into their shell and staying stuck in one place.
Meanwhile the hares in the real world are the fast, action-taking innovators.
They refuse to be “average” at anything, they’re relentless in pursuit of their vision and when they see a market opportunity, they find the best way to execute it.
This is what makes hares the true leaders in their fields.
In other words, tortoises are followers. Hares are disruptors.
The fact you are reading this means you are a disruptor (congratulations!).
All the tortoise readers would have felt too annoyed, too uncomfortable and would have unsubscribed by now (good luck to them, I wish them all the best).
Disruption is what puts you and your business on the map.
Notice I said you and your business. Your personal brand as an entrepreneur and thought leader is just as important as your business brand (think of Richard Branson, Warren Buffet and Sara Blakely).
And when it comes to disruption, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to it.
Disruption exists on a spectrum, and depending on your business, it can either mean flipping an entire industry on its head (hello, Airbnb and Uber) or standing out in a way that makes your brand look and sound like nothing else on the market.
The Spectrum of Disruption
Let’s break it down.
On one end of the disruption spectrum, it’s about how you show up in your market.
This is where your brand can stand out from the sea of sameness. This is what I call Transformational Branding.
Think about how your business looks, sounds, and feels to your audience. Are you doing something different enough to get noticed?
This kind of disruption is about branding—where you’re not copying what everyone else is doing, but instead, you’re showing up in a way that stops people in their tracks.
Maybe it's extreme innovation in design and how you speak to your audience, the bold offers you make, or even the innovative way you package up your products and services.
In a noisy market, the hare isn’t the loudest; it’s the one making the most unforgettable impression.
On the other end of the disruption spectrum, you have extreme innovation.
This is where businesses like Airbnb and Uber live—companies that didn’t just improve an industry, they turned the whole business model upside down.
They saw a stagnant, broken industry riddled with inefficiency and friction.
So they ignored all the “rules,” and created something radically new that completely reshaped how people think about travel and transportation.
They didn't inch along like the tortoise—they sprinted ahead by creating a whole new game.
I also implemented this extreme level of innovation when I had to sell my house during the housing crash in 2008 (if you’ve read The Client Stampede book you already know this story).
I knew the conventional way of selling houses would never work, I was $200K upside down, the market had collapsed, and houses were falling into foreclosure left, right and center.
To win I knew I had to disrupt every part of the traditional process and create an entirely new experience to get people to the open house and the house sold for a much higher value.
When I surprised even myself by accomplishing this, I enraged all the “real estate tortoises” – the conventional agents in my market.
They couldn’t wrap their heads around disrupting the tried and true process of selling a house, even though the traditional model is so broken (especially during a recession).
The Key to Winning the Race: Innovation and Action
Whether you're disrupting an entire industry or showing up as a brand that looks nothing like your competition, one thing is clear—innovation and action win the race. While the tortoise waits for the perfect moment, the hare is out there creating, testing, pivoting, and ultimately winning. It’s not about perfection; it’s about taking strategic bold action and putting it in motion As Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald’s, once said, “We can innovate faster than they can imitate.” Remember: the riskiest move you can make is doing nothing at all. So get out there and start shaking things up. Your industry won’t know what hit them!
Looking for a Disruptive Roadmap for Growth?
What if I could guarantee you that there’s at least $1 Million in hidden, untapped revenue in your business? What if I showed you not just where it’s hiding, but also gave you a step-by-step roadmap on how to access it, scale it and leave your competitors in the dust scratching their heads wondering how you’ve done it?
How much would that clarity, confidence and strategic guidance be worth to your business? Let’s spend a day together in New York doing a Business Transformation Consult on your business, and you be the judge.