In 1901, George Melville, the U.S. Navy’s chief engineer, dismissed aviation as a “useless dream.” Two years later, the New York Times predicted human flight might take millions of years to achieve. Yet, just 69 days after this dire forecast, the Wright brothers soared at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, proving that true breakthroughs come from those who defy conventional wisdom and dare to break patterns. True innovation comes from challenging the status quo and thinking beyond conventional wisdom. Innovators fail when they conform to existing patterns rather than shattering them.
Today, exponential technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics, sensors, and synthetic biology are redefining what’s possible. These rapidly advancing fields create inflection points that can transform industries overnight—and pattern breakers are uniquely positioned to create solutions that address these global challenges.
The Maples-Ziebelman recipe
Mike Maples Jr., the co-founder of Floodgate Venture Capital, has been on the Forbes Midas List of top venture capital investors eight times. He is considered one of Silicon Valley’s most inspirational venture capitalists. After reviewing the success of hundreds of startups that he invested in—as well as those his fund passed on—he introduced “inflection theory” in his book, Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future, co-authored with entrepreneur and lecturer Peter Ziebelman.
By combining inflections (pivotal environmental changes) and insights (non-obvious truths about how these changes can be harnessed), breakthrough ideas can be created. For example, the introduction of the GPS chip in smartphones enabled Uber and Lyft. The insight that people would trust staying in strangers' homes, combined with smartphone technology, led to Airbnb. Similarly, the advent of cloud computing allowed small startups to scale rapidly without massive upfront infrastructure investments, paving the way for companies like Dropbox and Slack to revolutionize how we store and share information.
Inflection theory challenges the conventional wisdom of first analyzing large markets for unmet customer needs. While the approach of initially targeting sizable markets may seem logical, it rests upon a flawed assumption, Maples and Ziebelman argue: It presumes that the primary path to a breakthrough startup lies in addressing what established companies have failed to provide for their current customers, thereby implicitly conforming to the established rules set by existing incumbents.
Enter inflections, which provide the mechanism for new entrants to defy current rules. Timing is everything: Being too early or too late can be disastrous. Recognizing the right moment to act involves not only identifying inflection points and generating insights but also understanding when the market is ready for change. Successful startups often pivot from their initial ideas based on ongoing feedback and refinement, eventually hitting the winning idea that transforms their business.
Successful pattern breakers do more than launch innovative products—they create movements. Movements rally people around a shared vision of the future, involving effective storytelling, bold leadership, and the ability to inspire and mobilize others. A movement turns an innovative idea into a widespread phenomenon, changing not just a market but the way people live their lives.
Pattern breakers often face significant resistance from established institutions and societal norms. This resistance can come from incumbents who feel threatened by the new entrant, regulators who are slow to adapt, and consumers who are comfortable with the status quo. Successful pattern breakers navigate this resistance through strategic alliances, effective lobbying, or sheer perseverance.
For entrepreneurs looking to break patterns and create significant impact, consider these steps:
- Identify inflection points: Stay attuned to changes in exponential technologies, regulation, and consumer behavior that create new opportunities. An inflection point is a moment when the rules of the game change. For example, the release of the iPhone was an inflection point that led to the creation of entirely new industries and business models. Entrepreneurs need to recognize these moments and capitalize on them.
- Generate insights: Look beyond the obvious to find non-obvious truths that can be leveraged to create new value. Insights are often hidden beneath layers of assumptions and conventional wisdom. Entrepreneurs must dig deep to uncover these insights and use them to inform their strategies.
- Time your actions: Understand the importance of timing and act when the market is ready for change. Being too early can be just as detrimental as being too late. Entrepreneurs need to gauge the market's readiness for their innovations and time their actions accordingly.
- Create a movement: Build a strong narrative and rally people around your vision. Inspire and mobilize others to join your cause. Movements are powerful because they turn customers into advocates and employees into missionaries. They give your innovation a life of its own and help it spread rapidly.
- Navigate resistance: Be prepared to face and overcome resistance from established players and societal norms. Stay resilient and adaptable. Resistance is inevitable when you challenge the status quo. Entrepreneurs need to be prepared for this and develop strategies to navigate and overcome resistance.
The human element
Successful innovations often stem from understanding human behavior and needs better than anyone else. The Wright brothers succeeded not just because they built a flying machine, but because they understood the principles of flight better than anyone else at the time. Similarly, modern pattern breakers need to have a deep understanding of their customers and the problems they are trying to solve.
Leadership plays a vital role in pattern-breaking. Leaders need to be visionary, resilient, and adaptable. They need to inspire their teams and create an environment where innovation can flourish. This involves fostering a culture of experimentation, encouraging risk-taking, and being open to new ideas. Great leaders are unafraid to challenge the status quo and push the boundaries of what is possible. True innovation comes from challenging the status quo and embracing a seemingly unreasonable mindset. It’s about recognizing inflection points, generating insightful ideas, and creating movements that drive transformative change. As Maples and Ziebelman emphasize in their insightful book, better ideas don’t have a massive impact—remarkably different ideas do.
The future doesn’t happen to us; it happens because of us. By understanding and applying these principles, entrepreneurs can position themselves to take advantage of the next big inflection point and create innovations that not only succeed but also transform industries and change the world.
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The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.
