By Isobel Chiang, Summer Intern
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If you had asked me four months ago, my definition of disruption would have consisted of pop-up ads, an illuminated gaslight, delayed flights, or when you’re the only one left at baggage claim and it sinks in that Air Canada has (not surprisingly) lost your luggage.But that was before I started my internship at JS Daw & Associates. During my four month stay, I have worked with leading Canadian companies and have been given the chance to help re-wire and re-imagine their Community Investment Strategies. I have deepened my knowledge of Shared Value and have conducted extensive research into what makes a world-class company truly great. In doing so, my definition of disruption has shifted on its axis.dis·rup·tion 2.0 /disˈrəpSHən/ noun: displacing or replacing a preexisting method of doing things in a way that nobody could have predicted or expected.I now realize that business has reached a fork in the road: either disrupt or be disrupted.Think about it— the same thing that happened to Robert Frost is happening right now. When two roads diverged in a wood, Frost took the road less travelled. So what’s stopping us? Why are we so scared of disruption? In order to be truly innovate, creativity must be augmented with a willingness to disrupt the status quo. You must be authentically different, daringly ingenious. You have to find a routine then break it, take what you know and flip it on its head.As Albert Einstein—perhaps one of the most disruptive thinkers the world has ever seen—once said, “The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” If we want to stand a chance at solving the world’s most wicked problems, we must rewire our affinity to what’s familiar and safe and harness the power of disruptive thinking.Lesson No. 1: Disruption is the birthplace of world class entrepreneurshipNowhere is disruption more crucially needed than in the sphere of entrepreneurship. Meet Manu Prakash, an assistant professor of bioengineering at Stanford University who has personified the power of disruption with Foldscope, a handheld microscope that can be printed on a legal sized sheet of cardboard paper and folded in order to test for deadly blood-borne diseases such as Malaria. The microscope costs a mere 50 cents and requires no written instruction to assemble, meaning nations in the global south, where sophisticated labs are not readily (if at all) available, can test for Malaria in a cost-efficient, scalable manner.Prakash illustrates the crucial difference between being evolutionary and being revolutionary. Chances are, Prakash and his team did not ask themselves, “how can we evolve Malaria testing?,” but rather, “how can we revolutionize it?”During my internship, I was lucky enough to attend a community forum put on by the Government of Alberta and CCVO discussing the $45 million Social Innovation Endowment Fund, which will invest in socially innovative practices among “non-profit organizations, social enterprises, community groups, foundations, private industry, and orders of government.” After coming across entrepreneurs like Prakash, I believe that if the endowment is going to be truly groundbreaking, it must disrupt traditional models of government funding. This means money must be given to the hyper-creative class, or the cohort of thinkers and doers who would rather go against the grain than take path of least resistance. In other words, the Government of Alberta must understand the difference between evolutionaries and revolutionaries, and allocate funding accordingly.Lesson No. 2: Don’t be afraid to be boldFor certain companies, disruption exists at the core of their business strategy, not the periphery; it’s a need-to-have, not a nice-to-have. I would argue that one such company is Starbucks.In his newest novel, founder and CEO Howard Schultz wrote, “There are moments in our lives when we summon the courage to make choices that go against reason, against common sense and the wise counsel of people we trust. But we lean forward nonetheless because, despite all risks and rational argument, we believe that the path we are choosing is right and best thing to do.”In the wake of the 2008 recession, after suffering from abysmally low sales, companies across the board were diluting their employee health insurance plans to subsidize for lost revenue. While Schultz could have easily followed suit, he understood what others did not: if Starbucks was going to make it out of 2008 alive, it had to empower its employees, not abandon them. Rather than opting for a short-term, shareholder-centric “solution” like so many other companies, Starbucks made the resolute decision to keep its employee benefit package even though it would cost them over $250 million.Fast forward to 2014, and Starbucks is still honing in on disruptive business practices. Last June Starbucks partnered with Arizona State University and pledged to provide university education to all of its employees (granted that they work a minimum of 20 hours per week and have admissible grades). It’s an unusual business move to make, especially knowing that most graduates, with degrees in hand, will leave for better paying jobs. However, Schultz trusts that investing in its employees will eventually reap long-term, reciprocal benefits.Lesson No. 3: Disruption often begins with starting a conversationA great example of a Canadian company embracing disruption is Bell Media and their “Let’s Talk Campaign”, which seeks to de-stigmatize mental illness by inspiring dialogue and starting new conversations. Disruption, in this case, means approaching Community Investment from a fresh angle: while many CI strategies are more solution oriented (“let’s end youth homelessness” or “find a cure for cancer”), Bell chose to reframe people’s perceptions of mental health. This innovate take on CI, in addition to their seamless integration of social media into the campaign, has made Bell a “best-in-class” Canadian company.Whether you’re a multinational corporation like Starbucks or a local entrepreneur starting your first business, everyone stands to benefit from disruption. After all, disruptive thinkers don’t spend their lives dodging the curve balls, they throw them. They obsess over being different because they genuinely want to get talked about at the dinner table and on Facebook. They’re game changers, and although they may not want to change the entire world, they want to change something— and change it for the better.So, as Jack Kerouac once said, “Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”