This interview question unlocks a few key behaviors: Can … Also, we must recognize that God did not create data; any piece of data you or I have ever encountered was created by a human being. Christensen: The mechanics of disruption are the same as ever, but recent technological and business model innovations present unique opportunities and challenges for both incumbents and entrants. These decisions become embedded in the tools we use to create and process data. Christensen: Apart from what you’ve already mentioned, which is that disruption does not mean “breakthrough” or “new and shiny,” far too many people assume that disruption is an event. As an example, in my early research on the disk drive industry, I catalogued by hand every disk drive that had been bought or sold over the years after scouring hundreds of “Disk/Trend” reports. Christensen: I absolutely worry about this. Have questions about working at Disruptive Advertising? There are some professions where any job interview will involve some specific interview questions about your creativity and your creative thinking skills. How do you deal with conflict? This can be caused by changes in market trends causing a shift in the mode of production to fit the customer demands. I witnessed this approach in action during an annual strategic planning meeting for a global pharmaceutical corporation. And sometimes those new ways are going to challenge someone’s old ways. How could we get there in 6 months? Take advantage of the disruptive changes big data is making, because if you do not make use of it, then others will obviously make use of it. If I could change one thing, I'd have moved into the cell phone insurance business sooner than I did. You’ll just be treading water with them until they “fire” your product and hire one that understands them better. They generate free cash flow for companies, which is important, but if not reinvested properly, that cash doesn’t necessarily lead to new growth. By hiring individuals who … Initially I just wanted to change our vendor survey. Who are your best customers? One of the joys of being a professor is that I am challenged on a daily basis by my students, and I know I’ve learned as much from them as they have from me over the years. 4. If we could hire five more people, what unconventional skills would they have and why? My colleagues have been extremely insightful and have added enormous precision and insight to what I predicted many years ago. Reach for the above list during the interview process, and as you grow more comfortable with the questions, tailor them to speak to real-time challenges or add your own questions. What is the shortest path to the customer? Which parts of your job would you like to kill or eliminate? When you apply provocative inquiry to every corner of your business, there will be a collective ripple of unease. Before Implementing or Leading Change. To illustrate, a provocative version of “Who has an idea for improving our product/service?” would be “If we hosted a forum called ‘How Our Products & Services Suck,’ what topics would be on the main stage?” An equally effective version is “Which two things could our competitors do to render our product/services irrelevant?”. And among the hundreds of provocative questions I’ve heard, the following queries have been known to suck the status quo out of any room: 1. Since 2015, 14 schools have closed and nine have merged in New England alone. 10. Christensen: Well, it’s important to first recognize that the data are not the phenomena. Reed Hastings intuitively understood that his customers hired Netflix to relax in their own homes, whenever they wanted. The thing that I admired most about Disruptive's interview process was how much they cared about me as a person not just a potential employee. By definition, these decisions reflect our preexisting ways of thinking about the world. Christensen: One of my favorite quotes says to let people “be anxiously engaged in a good cause.” Far too often, parents smother their children with lists, extracurriculars, and other “good” things so that children don’t learn how to self-manage and regulate their own lives. to identify market-creating opportunities. Here's the perfect response to 9 tricky interview questions. They focus on generating solutions rather than begging long-winded explanations and place blame, as often-asked ‘close-ended’ questions always do. When you understand that concept, the idea of uncovering consumer jobs makes intuitive sense. What the Interviewer Really Wants to Know. You must always answer that you are adaptable to change and then go on to explain how. The questions in the interview were geared towards how I would fit at the company but also how the company would fit with MY life. Clayton M. Christensen: Disruptive innovation describes a process by which a product or service powered by a technology enabler initially takes root in simple applications at the low end of a market — typically by being less expensive and more accessible — and then relentlessly moves upmarket, eventually displacing established competitors. Your interviewer wants to see your management style and get a feel for how you handle difficult interpersonal situations. And, to its credit, Apple then developed a business model that allowed it be a portable PC better than anyone else. ... Inc. helps entrepreneurs change the world. Similarly, if you are applying for a management or leadership role, you can expect a few of these types of questions … Prospective hires, vendors, former customers, and ex-employees can provide unique and valuable perspectives on your organization. We do have our curriculum; however, any small change can completely throw your day. These citizens would otherwise be unable to participate in the tourism industry, but because of the digital platform of Airbnb, they now can. What is your organization capable or incapable of doing? It’s 2025 and we’re the best company to work for in the world: What two things did we do to earn this award? They do not necessarily have experience interviewing or working with the companies, careers or schools they may write for on MockQuestions.com. Interview disruptions. I viewed Apple as a late entrant into the mobile phone business, where in Horace’s view it was an early mover in the “computer in your pocket” business. Show how cool you are under pressure by rehearsing your reaction to interruptions and other disruptive moments should they occur during your meeting. Indeed, the company was famously protective of its interdependent, proprietary architecture. Michael Horn, one of my coauthors on Disrupting Class and a cofounder of the Clayton Christensen Institute, has recently written a very detailed summary of what in reality was a prediction of 25% that we made together in The New York Times in 2013. So, “I can’t meet a deadline to save my life” is not an option—but neither is “Nothing! Although disruption — in the form of faster, more affordable, and more convenient college alternatives powered by online learning — is accelerating and a huge threat to established institutions, ultimately I’ve always felt that the bigger imminent danger is that their business models simply aren’t sustainable. People forget this now, but when the iPhone launched, the only applications you could run on it were those that were created by Apple. Disruptive change is a constant reality most leaders aren't prepared for. Asking the public school system to negotiate disruptive … Below, we’ll look at some of these “standard” questions. The forces that combine to cause disruption are like gravity — they are constant and are always at work within and around the firm. You never know what can happen! These products and services often appear modest at their outset but over time have the potential to transform an industry. And in my experience, it seems that it’s often easier for executives to spot disruptions occurring in someone else’s industry rather than their own, where their deep and nuanced knowledge can sometimes distract them from seeing the writing on the wall. Try not to come across as “superior” in your past or current role. Sign up for a free account: Comment on articles and get access to many more articles. Question posée par Martin sur ... à la fin des années 90 en parlant «d’innovation disruptive». My own thinking about the theory of disruption has evolved tremendously since I first published its findings in 1995. Big data also tends to gloss over or ignore anomalies unless it’s crafted carefully to surface these to humans. You are going to have different supervisors. Get weekly updates on how global companies are managing in a changing world. A new consulting firm was recently developed to help colleges merge. Management practices that “create a crisis” exploit the human tendency to respond with greater energy and commitment when we feel threatened than when we feel safe. Christensen: I have always welcomed challenges to my thinking. When the corporate strategy team was invited to join the product team’s brainstorm session, they brought some unexpected questions to the table: • What are the unshakable industry beliefs about what customers want? Today “Change & Change Management Topics @ Your Behavioral Interview” — How would you feel knowing you are totally prepared with the best answers - because you can see the hidden psychology behind their questions? Christensen: This is a very interesting question. When answering this type of behavioral-based interview question, try to avoid topics that make you or anyone else look bad. Here's a blueprint (with a novel twist) for showing them you are an innovator who can thrive in a changing environment. What if the opposite was true? Conflict interview questions are common because everybody wants to hire a good “team player.” (Conflict is probably the most common behavioral question subject) Interviewers often ask about your team experiences and they like to ask specifically about one that involved a conflict or “difficult person.” Inside Big Interview. Bodell is also author of the bestselling book, Kill The Company: End the Status Quo, Start an Innovation Revolution, which includes status-quo busting tools like Killer Queries. I think understanding anomalies — what a theory doesn’t explain — helps make the theory better and stronger. The survey had 4 questions for each vendor, who got rated green (good) or red (bad) on each question. My goal has never been to be right but to find the right answer. The data alone would have never generated those insights. They usually begin with “how,” “which,” “why” or “if” and are specific without limiting imagination. The only way to make this happen is to help individual people become better people, and innovation is the key to unlocking evermore opportunities to do that. That said, there do seem to be some interesting connection points between the companies you mentioned. While it’s not unusual for the product and strategy teams to collaborate, consider querying less conventional audiences. All Rights Reserved, This is a BETA experience. Question: The competing forces in education in the USA and, no doubt, many other countries are crying out for change while collectively maintaining the status quo. Disruptive change is a constant reality most leaders aren't prepared for. Blockbuster focused on increasing its profitability (for instance, through the horrendous late fees we all sheepishly paid) rather than understanding why we chose to hire a video in the first place. Christensen: My colleagues and I have spent years trying to understand customer behavior — why someone would choose to buy one product or service over other options. Christensen: Companies certainly know more about disruption than they did in 1995, but I still speak and write to executives who haven’t firmly grasped the implications of the theory. Top 5+ disruptive change questions – How to disrupt your industry. For example: Avoid speaking badly of current/former company, co-workers, supervisors, or direct reports. Disruption is not easy – either to create or to confront. Christensen: Certainly there are anomalies waiting to be discovered, and further research into digital-focused firms will yield profound insight into the boundaries of disruptive innovation theory. I believe disruptive change making can be viewed at two scales: the individual or small group level, and the mass or crowd level. This may seem a surprising question for an interview but was actually submitted by a teacher after they were asked it in their own interview. They have all built organizations that have put the customers, and their Job to Be Done, at the center. If not, consider whipping up a quick lesson plan you might like to give. Christensen: Last year I had a conversation with Marc Andreessen about The Prosperity Paradox, and we were discussing the role firms play in economic growth. But all this data is focused on customers and the product itself — not what the customer is trying to accomplish in making the purchase. There is a simple, but powerful, insight at the core of this theory: Customers don’t buy products or services; they pull them into their lives to make progress. What we know is that most companies tend to focus on data to help guide their decisions: They know market share to the nth degree, how products are selling in different markets, profit margin across hundreds of different items, and so on. So I don’t believe that the threat of displacement is necessarily greater, but certainly the fact that digital platforms can emerge and expand is something that I just hadn’t conceived of early in our research and deserves further study. The STAR method- or situation/task- action and result- is a reliable and appropriate way to help frame your answer to a behavioral interview question like the one at hand. I ended up with 31 questions. You must sign in to post a comment.First time here? They are a representation of the phenomena. New product launches, competition and employees bring shifts in business strategies and leadership. Disruptive change is a non-localized future irreversible and change that affects a portion of an industry. We strive to match our experts' background and expertise with the appropriate question sets found on our website. We will learn something interesting either way. I am especially impressed by candidates who have a grasp of existing competitors, potential competitors, and what a disruptive, new market entrant could do.” I love this question as a behavioral interview question because it taps into a way of thinking. It occurred to me that in nearly every case, the firms we profiled to demonstrate how economies are built were those that built physical products. Resisting change is natural because as people, we fear the unfamiliar and we are afraid that we will be unable to cope in the new situation. Yet by day’s end, this planning session became one of their most productive. This kind of question is aimed to show your experience and how you react and work to different scenarios or a pressurised situation. Who are the nonconsumers, and what is limiting their access? 8. Change is inevitable in business. The survey had 4 questions for each vendor, who got rated green (good) or red (bad) on each question. When someone tells me they are disruptive, the first question I always ask is, “To what?” This is an important question, because disruption is a relative concept. For such an interview you will be asked a leading question to Ces 25 questions éveilleront peut-être en vous une réflexion… Question: The competing forces in education in the USA and, no doubt, many other countries are crying out for change while collectively maintaining the status quo. It’s intertwined with the resource allocation process in the firm, in the changing needs of customers and potential customers, and in the constant evolution of technology. How could we fix this? You’ve just written a tell-all book about this company: Which secrets does it reveal? So this problem is not going away. Christensen: I’ll clarify a few things about the prediction. In this article, we list common interview questions and answers about conflict and provide some points to remember when answering these questions in an interview. Learn about the benefits of HaaS in our detailed blog on making your business agile with Hadoop-as-a-Service. To answer this question successfully, assure your interviewer that you are a good listener who can accept opposing views without getting upset. But when disruptive change appears on the horizon, managers need to assemble the capabilities to confront that change before it affects the mainstream business. Teams that ask the hard questions prevent early conclusions: the simple act of inquiry provokes new thinking and has the power to challenge long-held assumptions that create real change. With technology and capital rapidly increasing the pace of innovation, Christensen’s thinking is more relevant today than ever. It can help you avoid choosing the wrong strategy.Â. Why ask candidates change management interview questions. The following guest post is by Lisa Bodell, CEO of futurethink, a New York City-based innovation research and training firm. • If you were CEO for one day, which three things would you change to enable growth of our brands? Where previous annual planning meetings yielded 20 to 30 good ideas, this one resulted in over 100. Robert Merton talked about the idea of “obliteration by incorporation,” where a concept becomes so popularized that its origins are forgotten. I’m perfect!” Strike a balance by thinking of something that you struggle with but that you’re working to improve. This meant they manufactured, distributed, sold, serviced, and designed goods for a non-consuming population, resulting in tremendous growth for their firm and their nation. No one from the product division answered immediately. The question for each is, when growth inevitably slows, and when those founders inevitably move on, have they developed the systems, processes, and culture to keep that fluidity? Unless you understand the full context in which your customers are making a choice to “hire” your product or service, you will be unlikely to create the right offering for them. Unable to fully capture this wonderfully complex world, we human beings use our bounded rationality to make “decisions” about what aspects of the phenomena to include, and which to exclude, in our data. They set the tone for the whole school year. © 2020 Forbes Media LLC. These articles examine some of the biggest challenges companies will face, such as building the future workforce and identifying tomorrow’s disrupters. In our world, that’s a vital skill kids need to have because of how distracted we are becoming. They’re very different things. EY & Citi On The Importance Of Resilience And Innovation, Impact 50: Investors Seeking Profit — And Pushing For Change, Michigan Economic Development Corporation with Forbes Insights. That’s why theory is so important. Hulu, iPhone, and Prius didn’t come to market because their creators asked status quo questions. Ideally, you'll share an example where the employee displays a turnaround. Some of the most difficult interview questions to respond to shouldn’t be asked at all. When you start at a new job, many things are going to feel different. My sense is that we in the United States, like many other developed countries, are investing far too much energy in efficiency and sustaining innovations, and not enough in market-creating innovations. We call it the Theory of Jobs to Be Done. Updated for 2020: Conflict interview questions are some of the most common behavioral interview questions that hiring managers like to ask. 7. And understanding what questions to ask takes real work. I fear that has happened to the core idea of the theory of disruption, which is important to understand because it is a tool that people can use to predict behavior. A good interviewer will mix standard interview questions with those related specifically to change management. Prevention is the best way to handle a disruptive student. Embrace it: this is how status-quo busting happens, and what an innovation opportunity looks and sounds like. Find answers to questions from employees about what it's like to work at Disruptive Advertising and their hiring process. Perhaps most notably, I initially misread the Apple iPhone. I’ve long believed that asking the right questions is the only way to get to the right answer. What would our dream testimonial from a customer say? Because the way a challenge is perceived influences an organization’s behavior, framing is a critical responsibility of business leaders. 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