Harnessing Disruption and Deviance for Business Wins
- Alan Gates
- 7 days ago
- 5 min read
Dare to Think Differently
Disruption, Deviance, Rebellion, Chaos, Fracture, Defiance - all these words hit like a punch; they conjure images of broken rules, or outright trouble. They feel jagged, unsettling, like something to avoid. But what if they could be your secret weapons?
In the world of decision-making and strategy, these rebels don’t just stir the pot; they can reshape it entirely, whether a lone entrepreneur outpacing a sluggish competitor, a corporate giant dodging a market crash, or a government agency sidestepping a policy blunder, and all because they dared to think differently. What if bending norms could future-proof your operation, no matter its size?
Who was it who said "Fortune favors the bold"? They weren't wrong!
(it's a rhetorical question, goes back to a Latin proverb, circa 151BCE)
The Power of Breaking Patterns
Most businesses; whether a one-person gig, a sprawling corporation or a public sector behemoth, cling to the familiar. Safe playbooks, trusted routines and predictable moves are the norm and expected by the management. It’s human nature to lean on what’s worked before. Don't rock the boat. But there’s a catch: sticking to the script can blind you to what’s coming.
Take Blockbuster as an example. In the late ‘90s, they ruled video rentals with over 9,000 stores. Netflix, then a fledgling DVD-by-mail service, offered a partnership. Blockbuster said no; they bet on their brick-and-mortar empire. By 2010, they were bankrupt; Netflix pivoted to streaming and soared. The cost of stale strategies? Missed chances, lost ground, and sometimes oblivion.
There are two sides to every coin. Disruption shakes up those routines. It’s the spark that forces you to ask sharper questions; What’s shifting? Where’s the opportunity? A freelancer might spot a niche trend; like the rise of remote work tools during the pandemic; and build a service around it before bigger players catch on. Zoom did that, from nothing to something in less than 2 years.
A corporation could use data to predict a supply chain snag; they’d re-route resources while rivals scramble. In 2020, Ford pivoted fast; they used their factories to produce ventilators when COVID hit; this showed agility that others lacked. Breaking patterns isn’t reckless; it’s the difference between leading and lagging.
Deviance as a Strategic Edge
Let’s redefine “deviant.” It’s not about chaos for the sake of it or breaking rules to cause harm, it’s about calculated defiance; saying no when everyone else nods yes.
Think of a small retailer dodging a global shipping crisis while giants drown in delays. The Suez Canal was blocked for six days from 23 to 29 March 2021 by the Ever Given, a container ship that had run aground in the canal. It halted trade, but some nimble firms turned to local suppliers or air freight; they sidestepped the mess. The big players? They were stuck waiting and lost $millions daily. Deviance here wasn’t rebellion; it was survival.
How about government policy?. Singapore has long embraced this mindset. Facing water scarcity, they built NEWater; recycled wastewater so pure it’s drinkable. Critics called it radical; today it meets 40% of their needs.
Studies back this up; adaptive outliers often outlast rigid giants. A 2023 McKinsey report found companies that rethink norms; like adopting AI early, see 30% higher resilience in volatile markets.
Deviance is about rewriting rules. Do you want to outsmart the pack, or just outlast it?
I know which I would choose.
Scaling the Approach Across Sizes
This isn’t a one-size-fits-all game. Disruption and deviance flex differently depending on your scale. They can work for everyone. Take a solo entrepreneur; a graphic designer, say. With lean tools like real-time analytics, she spots a surge in demand for eco-friendly branding. She pivots; she undercuts bigger firms and wins clients like small green start-ups. Speed and foresight let her punch above her weight.
What about a corporation?. Bureaucracy often chokes decision-making with months of meetings to greenlight a shift. But deviance cuts through it all.
In the 1970s Shell pioneered scenario planning; they gamed out oil crises before they hit. When OPEC flexed in 1973, Shell adjusted fast whilst rivals floundered. Today, firms like Unilever use similar tactics, they slash decision lag to days and stay ahead on sustainability trends. It’s not about size; it’s about agility.
Government agencies? Well they’re not immune either. The U.S. Coast Guard’s Project Evergreen uses foresight drills to prep for crises like hurricanes. Post-Katrina, those “habits of thought” helped them adapt when plans failed and they saved lives amid the chaos.
Breaking from red-tape tradition sidesteps reactive fixes. Proactive beats panicked every time. From the lone wolf to the public sector titans, thinking differently scales because it’s rooted in one truth already stated: fortune favors the bold.
The Messy Beauty of It All
Here’s the truth; embracing this takes guts. It’s not a straight line or a tidy checklist. You’ll face pushback. Colleagues clinging to “how we’ve always done it,” investors nervous about uncharted moves, or the devil on your shoulder - your own doubts whispering in the night.
It’s messy and that’s the point. Growth doesn’t bloom in comfort zones. Ford’s ventilator pivot wasn’t seamless; retooling factories mid-crisis was a logistical nightmare, but they pulled it off. This proved friction fuels breakthroughs.
Every game-changer knows this tension. Steve Jobs famously defied focus groups to launch the iPhone because people didn’t know they wanted it until they held it. In government, Singapore’s NEWater faced public skepticism, but now it’s a global model. The beauty lies in the grind; pushing past resistance to carve something new. You’ve got the sense to wield this tool and now you just need the guts to do it.
Why settle for coasting when you could shape what’s next, and jump way ahead of your rivals?
Seize the Shift
So where does this leave you? Whether you’re a solopreneur scraping by, a corporate leader steering a giant, or a public servant juggling mandates, the lesson is clear: disruption and deviance aren’t threats. They’re tools that hand you an edge to anticipate, adapt, and act while others react. A service built to defy the norm can make that real; it works no matter your scale.
Curious how this can work for you? Check out PreEmpt.Life and see what’s possible. Don’t wait for the future to force your hand; shape it yourself right now.
The rebels win; not by breaking everything, but by building smarter.
Sources:
Blockbuster & Netflix: “The Rise and Fall of Blockbuster,” Harvard Business Review, 2019.
Ford Ventilators: “How Ford Raced to Make Ventilators,” The Wall Street Journal, April 2020.
Suez Canal Blockage: “Suez Canal Blockage Costs $9.6B Daily,” Bloomberg, March 2021.
Singapore NEWater: “NEWater: A Singapore Success Story,” National Water Agency Singapore, 2023.
McKinsey Resilience Report: “The Resilience Imperative,” McKinsey & Company, 2023.
Shell Scenario Planning: “Shell’s Scenarios: A History,” Shell Global, 2022.
U.S. Coast Guard Evergreen: “Project Evergreen Review,” RAND Corporation, 2021.
Steve Jobs iPhone: “The Real Story of the iPhone,” Wired, 2017.
Outline assisted by AI. Writing and editing by a real human.
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